Discovered by a doctor in Lyme, Conn. (hence the name), the numbers of Lyme patients has been steadily growing in the Hudson Valley since the disease became nationally notifiable, tracked by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. The most recent figures – compiled at the end of 2005 – put the number at 3,273 cases across the Hudson Valley. Dutchess County holds the distinction for the highest number of infected residents per capita in the region – 1,398 people contracted Lyme in 2005.
By comparison, Sullivan County’s 36 cases in 2005 sounds tame, but Sullivan Public Health Director Carol Ryan says she’d bet the numbers in every county are much higher. There are dozens of cases every year that never get reported, she says. Fortunately, there are also hundreds, maybe thousands, of infections avoided in the Hudson Valley because people are better educated.
With 75 percent of the nation’s Lyme cases centered in the three-state area of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, efforts by the New York State Health Department to “Be Tick Free” have increased the parents doing daily tick checks on their kids.
Jeanne Sager is a mom to Jillian and writer and photographer from Callicoon Center.