Deer Tick & Lyme Program Update

Deer Ticks ...one bite can change your life...Nantucket Tick-Borne Disease ForumJuly 28, 2012

Larry DapsisDeer Tick Project Coordinator- Entomologistwww.capecodextension.org508-375-6642

Ticks have NO friendsThe Dalai Lama

I love everything in the worldexcept for ticks

4-Poster Deer Feeding Station StudyEPA funded 2009 2011 Collaboration w/ UMass - Amherst

Project Extended to 2013 to collect additional tick population & infection data

14 Sample Sites

Tick Sampling Flag Drag Method

Number of sites found with positive detects in Nymph Stage Deer Ticks. 14 total sample sites.BorreliaBabesiaAnaplasma201113106201013514

Co-infection Nymph Stage Deer Ticks% Co-infectionNumber of Sites out of 142011108201046

Nymph Stage Tick Infection

Punkhorn Conservation

% Bor-Bab-Ana2011 22 20 02010 47 13 8Bells Neck Conservation

% Bor-Bab-Ana2011 23 20 02010 27 0 5Nymph Stage Tick Infection

Almanack Pond

% Bor-Bab-Ana2011 17 40 02010 29 5 5Loring Foundation

% Bor-Bab-Ana2011 20 20 402010 0 0 33Nymph Stage Tick Infection

Chappaquiddick Island

% Bor-Bab-Ana2011 21 20 202010 30 2 9Phase 1 Game Plan- Protect Yourself

Tick/Insect Repellent Clothing Do-it-Yourself TreatmentPermethrin products

Fabric onlyActive thru 6 washings

Sold under a variety of brand names.Permanone, Repel, Sawyer, Bens...

Note, Permethrin is an insecticide that repels and kills ticks. Read the LabelTick/Insect Repellent ClothingPermethrin bonded to fabric

Many brandsone supplier

70 Washings EPA Claim

Highly Effective.60 Seconds contact enough to kill Adult Deer TicksCape Cod Cooperative Extension

Permethrin Facts2,250 times more toxic to ticks than humans

EPA: Reasonable certainty that permethrin-treated clothing poses no harm to infants or children27 X below LOC

Low skin absorptionmetabolized quickly

Exposure data also studied by National Research CouncilCommittee on Toxicology Conclusion: Adverse effects unlikely

Also used for scabies and head lice control

Phase 2 Game Plan - Protect Your YardWildlife and habitat management

Perimeter sprays effective NOT the entire yard

Note: plant material that does not attract deerbut, white footed mice have territorial ranges that occupy up to 4 acresca. 417 X 417EcoExempt IC2BotanicalRosemary Oil 10%Peppermint Oil 2%Oil of WintergreenVanillin

EcoExempt was as effective as bifenthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide

Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory, Maine Medical Center Research InstituteDamminix Tubes

Damminix TubeshoweverSeveral initial university studies looked promising

Follow-up studies, NY & CTReplicated, multi-yearNo significant effect on tick populationsnot all tick-carrying animals take cotton

Company website testimonial driven, questionable trial data

Can Deer exclusion fencing reduce tick populations on a homeowners property???

Fact or Myth?

More TicksFewer TicksEffect of Deer Exclusion Fencing on the Number of Ticks Outside and Inside of the Enclosure4-Poster Deer Feeding Station.

Developed by Mat Pound, USDA, Kerrville, Texas 1996

One approach to Lyme disease management is to reduce tick populations. This station allows deer to feed on corn and get treated with a small amount of insecticide that will effectively control all ticks trying to feed. Conceptually, the deer is now working for uswandering around feeding on corn, getting treated with permethrin and continuously killing ticks. We are transforming

Bambi now can become Rambo, a tick killing machine with no off switch. Current research is to assess the practical application of this technique.

Chart3-221.50.5-0.1-0.5-1.4

Acres Fenced OffEffect of Exclusion Fencing

Sheet10.200.35100.55190.6190.62210.62140.6270.6340.75200.7840.8240.92160.9790.210.320.430.540.650.760.870.98190-22.522.51.52.50.56.25-0.18.75-0.518-1.4

Sheet1

Deer Observations/HourNymph Ticks/100 sq. metersCary Institute, NY 1992-2005

Sheet2

Deer Observations/HourNymph Ticks/100 sq. meters

Sheet3

Acres Fenced OffEffect of Exclusion Fencing