Community Corner

Another Tick-Borne Illness Found in Lower Hudson Valley: Media Reports

This time it's encephalitis, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports.

About 6 percent of black-legged ticks in the Hudson Valley are carrying an encephalitis virus, according to a new study covered by the Poughkeepsie Journal.

That may not seem high—50 percent of ticks in this region carry Lyme Disease.

According to the PoJo:

However, Powassan encephalitis has far greater health hazards, including disruption to the central nervous system, encephalitis and meningitis. About 10 to 15 percent of reported cases result in death.

“Definitely this disease is scary, no question about that,” said Rick Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook and a co-author of the study.

The findings were published in the scientific journal Parasites and Vectors. They document "evidence of widespread Deer Tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) transmission in southeastern New York State, a region that has experienced an apparent increase in human Powassan encephalitis cases."

Ten of 14 New York state residents who tested positive for Deer Tick virus in the past 10 years were residents of Westchester, Putnam or Dutchess counties, one of the study's co-authors told the paper.
 

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