Significant Increase In Potentially Deadly Tick Borne Disease In Capital Region

Earlier this year I wrote about how the tick population had a real explosion because the winter snow and temperatures made the conditions right for a huge number of the little bloodsuckers this year.

I can tell you in my wooded lot we have seen a ton of ticks and have to carefully check out dogs and ourselves after walking in the woods. So far, none of the ticks have attached themselves to my family or my dogs.

However, I'm more concerned now after reading that a rare tick-borne disease is become not so rare in the Capital Region. According to the Times Union, both Warren and Rensselaer county health departments have reported a surge in anaplasmosis cases so far this year. Anaplasmosis is transmitted from an infected tick to a human or animal and causes fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It can even cause respiratory problems, bleeding, organ failure, and even death. I'm no medical professional, but that almost sounds like a more serious case of Lymes Disease.

According to the article in the Times Union, seven people in the Capital Region have been hospitalized as a result of their symptoms, which may occur one to five days after a bite.

If you do find ticks on you, your partner or your pet send them into the Upstate tick lab. They will test the ticks you send in for a bunch of diseases and add the results to their database. Then you can see if you've been in contact with an infected tick.

Everyone knows that ticks can carry Lyme disease, but there are several diseases that Upstate New York ticks carry including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and the newly emerging myamotoi as well.