MINNESOTA: Lyme Disease Expands in State: Disease Newly Reported in Beltrami, Clearwater and Becker Counties in 2005

By Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

May 25–New incidences of tick-transmitted Lyme disease were reported last year in eastern Becker, southern Beltrami and southern Clearwater counties of northwestern Minnesota, the state Department of Health says.

All of Hubbard County, along with southern Itasca, eastern Todd and western Houston counties also reported cases of Lyme disease.

The cases offer proof the disease is spreading beyond traditional areas of east central Minnesota and the Mississippi River Valley, where the deer ticks that transmit Lyme disease are most prevalent. As a result, state health officials recommend Minnesotans take more precautions to prevent Lyme disease.

“Residents of these areas who venture into brushy, wooded areas need to protect themselves from deer tick bites, just as residents of other parts of the state have been doing for years,” said Dr. Harry Hull, state epidemiologist. “Deer ticks appear to be expanding their range in Minnesota, putting more people at risk for Lyme disease and human anaplasmosis. It’s important that residents recognize when they are at risk and do better at protecting themselves.”

Deer ticks, also called black-legged ticks, carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The illness can cause debilitating arthritis as well as serious heart and nervous system problems. The same tick also can carry the bacteria that causes human anaplasmosis, a potentially serious illness that usually begins with a high fever.

A total of 918 Lyme disease cases were reported to the Department of Health in 2005, down slightly from the record level of 1,023, set in 2004.

Now is the time to begin watching for deer ticks, health officials say.

Including the new areas, about 70 percent of people who contract Lyme disease or human anaplasmosis in Minnesota are exposed to the diseases in woody, brushy areas in 24 central, east-central and southeastern Minnesota counties. Most of the other cases involve Minnesota residents who contracted the disease in western Wisconsin.

Areas in Minnesota where people are most likely to encounter deer ticks are Aitkin, Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Chisago, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Houston, Isanti, Itasca, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Ramsey, St. Louis, Sherburne, Todd, Wabasha, Washington and Winona counties.

Deer ticks are smaller and darker in color that the common wood ticks. They also lack the wood tick’s characteristic white markings, and the back end of the female deer tick is reddish in appearance.

One early sign of Lyme disease is a “bulls-eye” rash, consisting of a reddened area sometimes with a clear area in the center at the original site of the tick bite. The rash appears within three to 30 days and may expand to cover a very large area or other places on the body. Other symptoms include fever, headache, chills and pain in the muscles or joints.

Human anaplasmosis is characterized by the sudden onset of fever of 102 degrees or more, chills, shaking, severe headache and muscle aches.

— Info: www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/lyme.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.

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