Saratoga County Tick Sweep

We are at the end of Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and in recognition, officials from The New York State Health Department and Saratoga County health officials conducted what they’re calling “tick sweeps”.

The tick sweeps are used for research by testing for pathogens in the ticks, and also to get an idea about how many ticks there may be in the area. They did tick sweeps in two locations - Veterans Memorial Park and Mooney Carrese Forest.

Their sweeps proved successful, finding many of the little critters. They seemed to put a little extra focus on one particular tick - The nymphal tick. These particular ticks are extremely small and many times, people can barely see them when they get attached to a person’s body. In a lot of cases people can’t even see them at all, and because of that, they won’t get the tick taken off of their body in time.

According to the story from News 10 ABC, an epidemiologist with the New York State Department Of Health, Byron Backenson said that “95 percent of diagnosed Lyme Disease cases come from nymphal ticks because they aren’t found”. The time frame for the risk of getting Lyme Disease decreases if a tick is removed within 36 hours. The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention website and the New York State Department Of Health website both have a list of things that you can do to help prevent getting bitten by ticks.

Last year, I had a story about a new deer tick that new fatal illness that was found around the Albany area and surrounding communities.