Mild winter touches off early tick season

ALBANY -- The mild winter means ticks have started stirring earlier this year as they wake from their dormant state and begin searching for meals of blood.

The weather doesn't mean there will be more ticks, but people should be aware of the parasites as they head out for hikes and climbs in the unseasonably nice weather. And as usual, people are advised to be careful during the peak Lyme disease season in May and June.

Paul Curtis, a professor of natural resources at Cornell University in Ithaca, said he's already finding the sesame-seed size, adult black-legged ticks around his home. "My cats are already picking them up," he said. He's putting flea collars on early, something he doesn't usually need to do until about mid-April.

Research by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies shows another natural phenomenon is expected to mean a larger population of black-legged ticks -- and threat of Lyme disease -- in the lower Hudson Valley, Curtis said. A bumper crop of acorns there means a "high cycle" in the numbers of white-footed mice, a host favored by ticks.

The ticks are also continuing to expand their range to the north, he said.

Another trend driven by a run of more temperate winters is a change in the types of ticks on Long Island, long a hot spot for Lyme-carrying ticks. Lone star ticks, which were generally associated with Southern states, now outnumber black-legged ticks, or "deer ticks," by 10 to 1 on the Island, Curtis said.

Lone star ticks don't carry Lyme, he said. But health authorities say they cause other bacterial infections.

Dr. Michael Caldwell, the health commissioner in Dutchess County, urges people to take the usual precautions including wearing light-colored, long clothing, using bug repellent, and frequently checking for ticks.

Lyme disease is spread by deer tick nymphs the size of a pepper grain. Early symptoms, aside from a round, red rash, are vague and flulike. People who aren't treated can develop arthritis, meningitis and other serious illnesses.

The incidence of Lyme disease in New York fluctuates annually. In 2010, the last year with available data, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,385 confirmed cases and 1,040 probable cases. Suffolk County was among the hot spots, with 609 cases, State Health Department data show.