<p>With funding for the Island’s tick-borne illness reduction initiative soon to end, health agents and others face an uphill battle in stemming the advance of lone star ticks, which have gained a foothold.</p>
With funding for the Island’s tick-borne illness reduction initiative soon to dry up, local health agents and others face an uphill battle in stemming the advance of lone star ticks, which have gained a foothold in at least three Island towns.
Biologist and unofficial tick czar Richard Johnson recently documented the presence of lone star ticks on six out of 11 properties in Chilmark, indicating a wider range than he first suspected last summer, when he found a large number of larvae on Chappaquiddick — proof that the species was breeding on the Island — and later confirmed reports of larvae in Aquinnah. He said the Chilmark sightings this year may indicate an eastward advance of the species across the Island.
Lone star ticks started out around South Carolina, and have moved northward, possibly as a result of climate change, and have already infested many coastal areas in the region, including Long Island and Cuttyhunk. Adult females have a characteristic white dot on their backs, hence the name.
Mr. Johnson found only a few of the ticks at each of the sites in Chilmark, but it was enough to redraw the battle lines. “I have to admit I’m somewhere between disturbed and alarmed about finding that many,” he told the Gazette. “It’s looking to me like they have spread farther on the Island than what I thought at the end of last year.”
The range may be farther still, as reliable sources have reported sightings in every Island town, Mr. Johnson said. But one tick at a time wasn’t much to go on, he added, and he would prefer to see the ticks firsthand before drawing any conclusions.
Lone star ticks carry several diseases, including tularemia, which is potentially fatal, and STARI (southern tick associated rash illness), which has symptoms similar to Lyme disease. Edgartown health agent Matt Poole, who is helping oversee Mr. Johnson’s work as part of the Island initiative, said it was likely too soon for the population here to have infected enough mammals to establish what he called an infection reservoir. But that will likely change.
“They seem to be an established population,” Mr. Poole said. “And science says that it’s only a matter of time before they start conveying their own package of infections. It’s still early in their residency here, but it looks like we are going to be finding them in more than pockets.”
Mr. Johnson has explored a number of possible responses, including controlled burns, brush cutting and feeding stations for deer that cause them to brush up against rollers doused in a tick toxin. But he has also said that lone star ticks appear less affected by brush cutting than other tick species, and that controlled burns would be risky in the affected areas. He points to the regulatory challenges associated with the feeding stations.
“Nobody has a good answer,” he said, although he sees promise in the idea of culling the Island’s deer population. “I personally believe that’s our best chance,” he said, noting that lone star ticks, like other tick species, depend on deer for food and mobility.
The initial goal would be to open up more private land to bow hunting in the fall, since hunters and biologists know those areas provide a safe haven for the herd. “Beyond that, I honestly haven’t figured it out,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’ve got to do something bigger than that, and I’m not sure exactly what it’s going to be.”
He said deer culling has had limited success in the region, and reducing the number of ticks in a given area does not necessarily mean fewer infections among humans. But he also noted time is running out.
A five-year, $250,000 grant administered through the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in 2010 helped launch the tick-borne illness reduction initiative, and has already been extended one year. Mr. Poole expected the fieldwork to continue until next summer, but after that the future is unclear.
“Unless we figure out some funding mechanism, I probably won’t be doing this again next year,” said Mr. Johnson. A permanent tick program on the Island, including widespread yard assessments and control measures, would cost between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.
The next step will likely be setting a course for action, despite the lack of long-term data, which Mr. Johnson acknowledge as a sort of catch-22. “What I’m really collecting is the baseline data that’s going to allow us to look at it going forward,” he said of the tick invasion, which could have begun anytime in the last 40 years. “The problem is that if we treat this as baseline data and wait 10 years, it may be way too late.”
“We need to take action,” he added. “And once we have an action plan, I think there is a good chance the financial support will be there.”
Lone star tick sightings can be reported to Richard Johnson at 508-693-1893 or [email protected].
Comments
Why just open up private land
Huh? EdgartownWhy just open up private land to bow hunting? What about truly making a dent in their population? Also, what about Island-wide programs to deploy tick tubes?
About 2 weeks ago, our dog
Mike Z EdgartownAbout 2 weeks ago, our dog abruptly stopped eating and became very lethargic. We took him over to Vineyard Veterinary Clinic where the doctor diagnosed him with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and her fast actions probably saved our dog's life. Great job by VVC, and don't assume your animal's sickness is a minor & temporary issue. These ticks are really nasty.
As someone who has had
Steve EdgartownAs someone who has had friends, family, and myself all have lyme, I think it is time we come together as an island and address the issue as Dick suggests. I fully support culling the deer population to match the herd size in the rest of the state. It is time to take this seriously and protect our children, our families, our neighbors, and our visitors.
The rest of the state and
Dan ObThe rest of the state and their reduced herds still deal with a huge tick and disease problem. It's not the deer that transmit the disease. It's the mice. Even ticks get the diseases from the mice. The deer provide a winter meal, and even with reduced herds, the ticks will continue to flourish in the environment, as they do off island. Dogs, cats, rabbits and other mammals make great winter hosts. Let's focus on the problem. The mice.
Nantucket recently began talks to introduce a genetically modified mouse into their environment which does not transmit the diseases to the ticks. Their hope is that the "new" mouse will out breed the native white mouse and eliminate the transmission cycle.
See recent article here:
https://www.statnews.com/2016/06/07/nantucket-lyme-genetic-engineering/
www.tickease.com
Dan Wolff Walthamwww.tickease.com
The reporter neglected to
Reinarenegada NantucketThe reporter neglected to mention that this ticks also give their victims an allergy to mammal meat and mammal products. P. S. They are already on Nantucket.
It would be a good idea for
kaygold ChilmarkIt would be a good idea for our local papers to do an article about this allergy and its spread by the Lone Star tick. It can be very serious.
Why would you cull the
Steve FalmouthWhy would you cull the population to match the rest of Mass, where Lyme is also out of control? Why not cull to zero? If for some reason you change your mind and miss having deer around you can always import a few mating pairs from the mainland...
Lets not forget the skunks &
deshandra brown mvLets not forget the skunks & rabbits. Both seem to be out of proportion and contribute to transmission of diseases. No talk of tularemia lately but both are carriers for that skunks are full of ticks.
The time has come to cull the
Roseline Glazer ChilmarkThe time has come to cull the deer population to zero and go after the other carriers of tick borne diseases. I don't quite understand the mentality
of those who are opposed to protecting our families and ourselves from potentially deadly, if not fatal, diseases. The island isn't what it was.
We aren't either. Why allow the misinformed and stupid among us to make the rules?
Hear! Hear! You're right,
Sue Craver Aspen, COHear! Hear! You're right, Roz, it's not just the deer.
It looks like the research
Chip CoblynIt looks like the research money is drying up, but if Mr. Johnson started a Go Fund Me campaign, I would be the first to donate.
Opossums each eat thousands
Mary MarfaOpossums each eat thousands of ticks each season. Humans have taken over their habitat and pushed them out in many areas or killed them for no reason. Did they ever, do they now, exist on the island? They could be a big help. They also eat mice. Be nice to opossums they might save your life. Don't run over one playing dead in the road, and if you see one hit by a car always check this tiny marsupial's pouch for babies, which can often be saved. Maybe a new best friend.
Come on, Vineyarders! It's
Dotsy NYCome on, Vineyarders! It's time to start protecting the humans living on the island. Ticks abound. We stopped coming to the island two years ago, after fishing it for almost 15 years, spring and fall, because the last time we fished your island in June 2014, we had found ticks rapidly crawling up our waders so fast you wouldn't believe at the places we were fishing. You all know the area. We even had, for the first time, ticks crawling along our Jeep dashboard after leaving our fishing spots and EVEN had ticks in the apartment we had rented, obviously having been brought in by us when we were done fishing for the night. SCARY!
Having vacationed on MV for several years, we've witnessed tent caterpillars devastate your State forest whose trees are now forever bare and everyone on the Vineyard still refuses to do something about caterpillars eating the foliage off all their trees and, now, several species of disease carrying ticks have appeared on island and you Islanders are still saying, we can't spray for the ticks, we can't cull the deer who carry the ticks, who knows what to do about what you say are the mice who carry the Lone Star tick. If you've had a family member who has had a serious, year long or more, bout with Lyme, carried by TICKS, you should do something about it, right now! It can be life threatening, and deprive the person IN YOUR FAMILY with Lyme protection from whatever tick it came from, from over a year or more, of productive life. Stop protecting the problem species, be it tick carriers, ticks themselves which can be sprayed for, plovers, who can relocate in other spots, like seagulls, and not deprive Islanders of their human beach rights and other stuff that deprives us, humans, from living life as we'd like to live it.
Being an off-islander who, in years past, visited your island twice a year to fish, I just can't see why the residents of Martha's Vineyard continue to protect everything except the humans who live on the island. Spray for the ticks. Cull the deer, appropriately, according to regulations. Spray for the tent caterpillars who are devastating your island trees. Yes, protect the PITA plovers according to Federal regs but, come on, the beaches are for the humans, not for the birds. They can nest in other spots if the Feds/Trustees work together. It's ridiculous to set aside & close an entire beachfront for birds and not spray for ticks which are so prolific along the sand trails.
Things can change with the diligent efforts of those concerned to preserve the beauty and freedom of Martha's Vineyard. Right now, it's becoming the Land of No. Can't fish here along the beachfront, ticks are a real problem here on the trails which are so beautiful on the Vineyard, etc. You need to do something about the problem, not just write about it.
There's a parallel narrative
Dal Morris TisburyThere's a parallel narrative her to the nuts and bolts science of tick populations and disease vectors. It's the mass hysteria in which every fruitcake behavior on this island by its notoriously erratic population gets chalked up to Lyme disease. Lyme has become a catch all diagnosis for the borderline nuthouse behavior of the various fruits and nuts masquerading around this free-range institution.
As a person who has been
Timothy Opiela PittsburghAs a person who has been researching Lone Stars Ticks for six years, culling deer is simply putting a bandage next to an open wound. If +90 % of squirrel, chipmunk and field mice carry these specific borne diseases, why would you target deer which carries these diseases on the high end 65% of the time.
Facts:
Lone Star Ticks are attracted to All mammals, including four and two legged species.
Pet ownership increases your risk of contacting a Tick borne disease by 90-93% even with the best tick prevention on the market. They are designed to protect your pet.
Lone Star Ticks are one of most aggressive Tick species in the world. This means, the do not simply quest, or hang out on a branch or a blade of grass. Once lock on via movement, CO2 output, and / or pheromones they can peruse up to several feet.
This means activities such as gardening increase your risk of beening bitten.
An additional high risk area for Lone Star Ticks is the grasses dune area of between a boardwalk/ private home and the sand on the beach.
I hope this brief overview of some of the facts helps you all have a safer tick free summer.
If The Vineyard, would like to contact me for additional information, please do.
Thaks for the good news!!
Steve FalmouthThaks for the good news!!
Timothy, very informative and
Devin Reston EdgartownTimothy, very informative and useful statistics in your comment. We appreciate you sharing this with us and in your continued research.
Timothy
Richard Johnson Oak BluffsTimothy
Now that the field season has slowed down I happened to be going back and rereading comments and saw yours.I would appreciate it if you could provide the references for the statistics you provide, particularly re squirrels, chipmunks and field mice.
You can email me at [email protected].
thanks
Reviewing this story and post
Timothy OpielaReviewing this story and post. Please see the work that has been done at the Cary Institute and Barad College. You will find the statistics their regarding the mice and other small forest mammals regarding ticks. Please contact me if you need further assistance at: [email protected]
I would say that if the
Ron MaI would say that if the locals and the officials don't want to fix the problem. Tourists should take notice and protect their on held by staying away from all those areas. Maybe the financial loss will convince them that they have a responsibility here. Common sense is so hard to find anymore.
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