Four West Virginia counties, including Kanawha, have been newly declared endemic for Lyme disease, and in all, 11 counties have deer ticks that carry the illness, according to the state's Bureau for Public Health.
Lyme disease, an infectious disease spread by deer ticks and found most commonly in the northeast United States, has been spreading substantially south and west in the past decade, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven counties - Berkeley, Hampshire, Hancock, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan and Wood - already had been declared endemic, and four more - Kanawha, Marshall, Roane and Wetzel - have been declared endemic as of Aug. 15.
For a county to be considered "endemic" for Lyme disease, it must have at least two confirmed cases in patients who had not traveled recently and could only have been bitten by a tick within that county, said Dr, Rahul Gupta, state health officer and commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health.
"We've seen a national trend recently of increasing cases and spread," Gupta said. "There is a national trend, and I think these four new counties are a reflection of that trend.
"We've sent an alert to providers so that they can know what symptoms to look for and what tests to consider. We're always trying to respond to our surveillance activities when we identify things like this, so that our partners in health care can stay up to date with both treatment and diagnosis."
There have been 149 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in West Virginia in 2015, compared to 77 reported cases in the same time frame in 2014, according to the Bureau for Public Health. The disease has been reported in 30 counties, Gupta said, and more than 70 percent of cases have been reported within the 11 counties considered endemic. The rest are among patients who have reported traveling within the three- to 30-day period for the onset of Lyme disease symptoms, Gupta said.
"If you're going into wooded areas, make sure you're wearing protective clothing and taking proper precautions to avoid tick bites," Gupta said. "You want to wear long pants and sleeves, use insect repellent and make sure that you're checking yourself, your children and your pets for ticks regularly, because the length of time the tick remains on your body increases your chances for contracting the disease."
Kanawha County has had five endemic cases of Lyme disease so far this year, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources. There were three cases each reported in Marshall and Roane counties, and two cases in Wetzel County.
Dr. Michael Brumage, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said initial symptoms of the disease include joint swelling and pain, fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, but the most telltale sign of Lyme disease is the "bullseye" rash that often appears near the site of the bite.
"Lyme disease has been reported in Kanawha County before, but it's always been associated with travel outside this region," Brumage said. "This is the first year where we've had [at least] two confirmed cases without a history of travel outside this area, and so we want the public to understand that, now that we've had those two cases, Lyme disease is a possibility in Kanawha County when you go into the woods. That means - for yourself, your children and your pets - we have to be aware that there are ticks in our environment and, with all the beautiful forests we have in Kanawha County, we have to be aware and take reasonable precautions against tick bites."
There are five species of tick native to West Virginia, but only one, the deer tick, carries Lyme disease. This year, West Virginia also has had four ehrlichiosis cases and four spotted-fever group rickettsiosis infections from tick bites, Gupta said.
Brumage said it usually takes about 36 hours for a tick, once it has latched on to a person, to transmit Lyme disease. Brumage said those who suspect they might have Lyme disease should seek immediate treatment, as untreated Lyme disease can result in serious complications, like heart damage and arthritis.
"It's a very easily treated disease," he said. "If it's left untreated, it can cause complications to different systems, like your neurological system, resulting in Bell's palsy, most typically, paralysis of the facial nerve. You can get arthritis, as well as something called 'Lyme carditis,' which affects the electric conduction system of the heart."
For more information about Lyme disease in West Virginia, visit www.dide.wv.gov.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.