With a significant number of ticks in the southeastern part of the state, a public health department in New London formed a task force to help protect those in the community who are most vulnerable.
New London County comes in third for the number of reported Lyme disease cases out of the eight counties in Connecticut, according to the state Department of Public Health's data from 2016.
Ledge Light Health District serves as the local health department for East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, New London, Old Lyme, Waterford, Stonington and North Stonington.
“All the towns in Ledge Light Health District’s jurisdiction, except for Groton and New London, have rates [of tick-borne diseases in humans] that are higher than the state average,” Epidemiologist Russell Melmed said.
Old Lyme, Waterford and Stonington top the list within Ledge Light’s jurisdiction, he added.
It’s why the health district formed a task force with local health workers, school officials, municipal leaders, landscapers, senior center staff and more to target the most vulnerable populations. Those are children, the elderly and people who spend a lot of time outside, according to Melmed. The task force is about increasing awareness, protection and education.
“The nurses always see the children with ticks and unfortunately we see so many that I don’t even hear about it anymore,” Leah Hendricks, the nurse supervisor for the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut, said.
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Hendriks overseas the nurses at Groton, New London, Waterford and East Lyme schools. Being part of the task force, she hopes to give her nurses the most up-to-date research and provide more education for parents and teachers.
When the weather is above 45 degrees, ticks can be out biting, Melmed said.
That warmer weather also means Leighann Kuenn’s kids are crawling, running and swinging outside.
“Ticks are like my scariest thing. We are lucky enough not to get any ticks last year,” Kuenn, who lives in Stonington, said.
Kuenn never had Lyme disease but has taken precaution ever since she got bit when she was younger.
“I got bit by a Lyme tick when I was younger and ever since then I’ve just been super scared of them,” she said, adding she hopes more education about tick protection through this task force helps.
Melmed said 2017 was a very active tick season in Connecticut, but the official numbers have not been released.
The task force is meeting again April and Melmed said they plan to meet every month for the next several months to put a plan in place to educate the public about tick safety.
