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The Independent
8 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Tick bites are nearly double already this year. Will this summer be the worst yet?
Peak tick season is approaching across the U.S and researchers are expecting this summer to be particularly brutal. But, is it the worst ever? University of Rhode Island entomologist Dr. Thomas 'The TickGuy' Mathers told The Independent that it's too early to call it but the numbers are looking worrying — he's received more submissions of nymphal blacklegged ticks, which carry Lyme disease, to the university's TickSpotters platform so far this month than the weekly average for the same period over the last decade. 'I don't know the answer just yet, if it's a trend going up – but I suspect it is, just based on the number of nymphal blacklegged ticks I've seen in the past couple of weeks,' he explained. Mathers noted that federal data shows emergency room visits related to ticks are up this year, with visits nearly doubling from 70 in April, to 131 in May. Other researchers who also count ticks are noticing a significant jump in specimens. Dr. Saravanan Thangamani, a professor at New York's SUNY Upstate Medical University who runs the Upstate Tick Testing Laboratory, has warned that more ticks are being sent to the lab than at the same time last year, marking a 217 percent increase. 'Based on the trend in tick submission I have observed thus far, I expect a tick season that is worse than the previous years,' he cautioned. But, Rutgers University professor and entomologist Dina Fonseca is not ready to make that call quite yet. She's a part of the submission project called New Jersey Ticks 4 Science! She said people say it's the worst year for ticks every year, noting there's no standardized tick surveillance. They're seeing more submissions, as well, but they don't know if it's just because more people are reporting them. 'Frankly, we don't have enough data over time to be able to say, 'Is it a worse year than normal or a better year than normal?' We don't know,' explained Fonseca. What threats do US ticks pose? Whatever the case may be, the heightened activity between June and July leaves Americans exposed to 90 species of ticks and the diseases they can carry. Although ticks are on both coasts, they're largely found in the eastern U.S. Some, like brown dog ticks and blacklegged ticks, are located more widely. Not being prepared for ticks while doing outside activities and camping could carry a death sentence — although that's an extremely rare outcome. People bitten by ticks may be exposed to Powassan virus, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Tularemia, Lyme disease, and other pathogens that can cause human disease. People can be affected by multiple diseases at once. The nymphal blacklegged ticks are the ones Fonseca says people really need to worry about, as they can be infected with four different disease agents. That includes Lyme disease, which may lead to facial paralysis and irregular heartbeat if untreated. Although larger than larval ticks, nymphal ticks are only the size of a poppy seed. They may be hard to spot – even for people who are aware of their region's ticks and where they live. 'Look at the bowtie of Lincoln on a penny; that's the size of a nymphal blacklegged tick, Fonseca said. Exposure and prevention While it's easy to miss ticks, it can take about two days for any transmission to occur after a bite. People who find ticks on their skin should remove them with tweezers as soon as possible. Those who develop a rash or fever after removal should consult a doctor. As far as prevention goes, knowledge is power. Reducing exposure is the best way to avoid negative health outcomes. Mather advises that people follow what he calls the 'three Ts.' Wear tight clothing, tuck in shirts and pants legs, and wear clothes treated with 0.5 percent permethrin repellent. 'If you don't apply repellent, they can be ruthless,' Fonseca said, recalling a time when she picked 30-to-40 ticks out of her hair. Mathers remembers a trip to Fire Island that resulted in the exposure to 'literally hundreds' of fast-crawling ticks. Unfortunately, with a changing climate comes additional chances to pick up the blood-sucking hitchhikers. With a warmer atmosphere comes a wetter world, and parasites thrive in those conditions, and ticks have been observed moving north. Southern aridity is their enemy. 'One of the easiest ways to kill a tick is to dry the heck out of them,' said Fonseca.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Is this tick season going to be America's worst yet? Here's what to know
Peak tick season is approaching across the U.S and researchers are expecting this summer to be particularly brutal. But, is it the worst ever? University of Rhode Island entomologist Dr. Thomas 'The TickGuy' Mathers told The Independent that it's too early to call it but the numbers are looking worrying — he's received more submissions of nymphal blacklegged ticks, which carry Lyme disease, to the university's TickSpotters platform so far this month than the weekly average for the same period over the last decade. 'I don't know the answer just yet, if it's a trend going up – but I suspect it is, just based on the number of nymphal blacklegged ticks I've seen in the past couple of weeks,' he explained. Mathers noted that federal data shows emergency room visits related to ticks are up this year, with visits nearly doubling from 70 in April, to 131 in May. Other researchers who also count ticks are noticing a significant jump in specimens. Dr. Saravanan Thangamani, a professor at New York's SUNY Upstate Medical University who runs the Upstate Tick Testing Laboratory, has warned that more ticks are being sent to the lab than at the same time last year, marking a 217 percent increase. 'Based on the trend in tick submission I have observed thus far, I expect a tick season that is worse than the previous years,' he cautioned. But, Rutgers University professor and entomologist Dina Fonseca is not ready to make that call quite yet. She's a part of the submission project called New Jersey Ticks 4 Science! She said people say it's the worst year for ticks every year, noting there's no standardized tick surveillance. They're seeing more submissions, as well, but they don't know if it's just because more people are reporting them. 'Frankly, we don't have enough data over time to be able to say, 'Is it a worse year than normal or a better year than normal?' We don't know,' explained Fonseca. Whatever the case may be, the heightened activity between June and July leaves Americans exposed to 90 species of ticks and the diseases they can carry. Although ticks are on both coasts, they're largely found in the eastern U.S. Some, like brown dog ticks and blacklegged ticks, are located more widely. Not being prepared for ticks while doing outside activities and camping could carry a death sentence — although that's an extremely rare outcome. People bitten by ticks may be exposed to Powassan virus, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Tularemia, Lyme disease, and other pathogens that can cause human disease. People can be affected by multiple diseases at once. The nymphal blacklegged ticks are the ones Fonseca says people really need to worry about, as they can be infected with four different disease agents. That includes Lyme disease, which may lead to facial paralysis and irregular heartbeat if untreated. Although larger than larval ticks, nymphal ticks are only the size of a poppy seed. They may be hard to spot – even for people who are aware of their region's ticks and where they live. 'Look at the bowtie of Lincoln on a penny; that's the size of a nymphal blacklegged tick, Fonseca said. While it's easy to miss ticks, it can take about two days for any transmission to occur after a bite. People who find ticks on their skin should remove them with tweezers as soon as possible. Those who develop a rash or fever after removal should consult a doctor. As far as prevention goes, knowledge is power. Reducing exposure is the best way to avoid negative health outcomes. Mather advises that people follow what he calls the 'three Ts.' Wear tight clothing, tuck in shirts and pants legs, and wear clothes treated with 0.5 percent permethrin repellent. 'If you don't apply repellent, they can be ruthless,' Fonseca said, recalling a time when she picked 30-to-40 ticks out of her hair. Mathers remembers a trip to Fire Island that resulted in the exposure to 'literally hundreds' of fast-crawling ticks. Unfortunately, with a changing climate comes additional chances to pick up the blood-sucking hitchhikers. With a warmer atmosphere comes a wetter world, and parasites thrive in those conditions, and ticks have been observed moving north. Southern aridity is their enemy. 'One of the easiest ways to kill a tick is to dry the heck out of them,' said Fonseca.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Is this tick season going to be America's worst yet? Here's what to know
Peak tick season is approaching across the U.S and researchers are expecting this summer to be particularly brutal. But, is it the worst ever? University of Rhode Island entomologist Dr. Thomas 'The TickGuy' Mathers told The Independent that it's too early to call it but the numbers are looking worrying — he's received more submissions of nymphal blacklegged ticks, which carry Lyme disease, to the university's TickSpotters platform so far this month than the weekly average for the same period over the last decade. 'I don't know the answer just yet, if it's a trend going up – but I suspect it is, just based on the number of nymphal blacklegged ticks I've seen in the past couple of weeks,' he explained. Mathers noted that federal data shows emergency room visits related to ticks are up this year, with visits nearly doubling from 70 in April, to 131 in May. Other researchers who also count ticks are noticing a significant jump in specimens. Dr. Saravanan Thangamani, a professor at New York's SUNY Upstate Medical University who runs the Upstate Tick Testing Laboratory, has warned that more ticks are being sent to the lab than at the same time last year, marking a 217 percent increase. 'Based on the trend in tick submission I have observed thus far, I expect a tick season that is worse than the previous years,' he cautioned. But, Rutgers University professor and entomologist Dina Fonseca is not ready to make that call quite yet. She's a part of the submission project called New Jersey Ticks 4 Science! She said people say it's the worst year for ticks every year, noting there's no standardized tick surveillance. They're seeing more submissions, as well, but they don't know if it's just because more people are reporting them. 'Frankly, we don't have enough data over time to be able to say, 'Is it a worse year than normal or a better year than normal?' We don't know,' explained Fonseca. Whatever the case may be, the heightened activity between June and July leaves Americans exposed to 90 species of ticks and the diseases they can carry. Although ticks are on both coasts, they're largely found in the eastern U.S. Some, like brown dog ticks and blacklegged ticks, are located more widely. Not being prepared for ticks while doing outside activities and camping could carry a death sentence — although that's an extremely rare outcome. People bitten by ticks may be exposed to Powassan virus, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, Tularemia, Lyme disease, and other pathogens that can cause human disease. People can be affected by multiple diseases at once. The nymphal blacklegged ticks are the ones Fonseca says people really need to worry about, as they can be infected with four different disease agents. That includes Lyme disease, which may lead to facial paralysis and irregular heartbeat if untreated. Although larger than larval ticks, nymphal ticks are only the size of a poppy seed. They may be hard to spot – even for people who are aware of their region's ticks and where they live. 'Look at the bowtie of Lincoln on a penny; that's the size of a nymphal blacklegged tick, Fonseca said. Exposure and prevention While it's easy to miss ticks, it can take about two days for any transmission to occur after a bite. People who find ticks on their skin should remove them with tweezers as soon as possible. Those who develop a rash or fever after removal should consult a doctor. As far as prevention goes, knowledge is power. Reducing exposure is the best way to avoid negative health outcomes. Mather advises that people follow what he calls the 'three Ts.' Wear tight clothing, tuck in shirts and pants legs, and wear clothes treated with 0.5 percent permethrin repellent. 'If you don't apply repellent, they can be ruthless,' Fonseca said, recalling a time when she picked 30-to-40 ticks out of her hair. Mathers remembers a trip to Fire Island that resulted in the exposure to 'literally hundreds' of fast-crawling ticks. Unfortunately, with a changing climate comes additional chances to pick up the blood-sucking hitchhikers. With a warmer atmosphere comes a wetter world, and parasites thrive in those conditions, and ticks have been observed moving north. Southern aridity is their enemy. 'One of the easiest ways to kill a tick is to dry the heck out of them,' said Fonseca.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NJ tackles teacher shortage by offering student loan relief
The Murphy administration is offering student loan relief of up to $5,000 annually for four years to public school teachers working in high-need subject areas in some of the state's low-performing school districts. Accepted applicants could get total relief of $20,000 in outstanding loan balances if they qualify for each of the four years. The New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program is in its second year as a way to bolster teacher pipelines in districts where student performance is below the state average. Applications opened May 15, and remain open until June 15 on the website of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority for teachers employed at a number of schools eligible for the qualify, teachers at these schools must be teaching mathematics, science, special education, English as a second language, world languages, or career and technical education. Last year the program only included teachers hired after 2022. The state expanded the program this year to include teachers with a hiring date back to Jan. 1, 2009. The state budget allocates $5 million for the program, with $1 million of that for teachers hired on or after Jan. 1, 2024. In addition to the subject areas targeted by the loan redemption program, there are teacher shortages in technology, engineering and English language learning for non-native speakers, according to a 2024 report from Rutgers University's Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. While the percentage of teachers in the state has remained relatively steady for the past decade or so, they now tend to leave the profession early, the report said, due to "insufficient compensation, lack of professional respect, and being overburdened with additional job responsibilities for which they did not receive adequate training or institutional supports to perform." Many of the state's districts reporting teacher shortages had large populations of students from low-income families, according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Education. The state program is designed to "strengthen both recruitment and retention of educators who teach high-need subjects in eligible New Jersey schools," said Margo Chaly, executive director of the state Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. It reduces "teacher student loan burdens while helping school districts fill critical vacancies." Initiatives like these help "maintain our standing as one of the best states in the nation for K-12 education,' Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. More: 55,000 public employees to benefit from last round of Biden student loan forgiveness Applicants must reside in New Jersey, hold a current teaching certification from the New Jersey Department of Education, and be employed to teach in a high-need subject at the time of hire. Each annual payment will cover 25% of the principal and interest on eligible expenses from student loans. HESAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of a report due to Murphy and the legislature by July 1 on the program's performance in 2024 or the number of applicants served by it. This article originally appeared on NJ tackles teacher shortage by offering student loan relief
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Neil William Curran, former Baltimore city planner and organic farmer, dies
Neil William Curran, a former Baltimore city planner who became an organic farmer, died of dementia May 13 at Roland Park Place. The former Mount Washington resident was 90. Born in Cranford, New Jersey, he was the son of John Robert Curran and Elizabeth Noxon Curran. He earned a bachelor's degree at Rutgers University, served in the Army in Okinawa and later took graduate courses at Columbia University. He joined the Fairfield County, Connecticut, planning office and met his wife, Anne Brinsko, at a New Year's Eve party. They married in 1962. Mr. Curran became a Baltimore City planner in the mid-1960s and worked in economic development and the federal community renewal program. He was among those who opposed the construction of an interstate highway through Fells Point and Canton. 'He was adventurous, inquisitive and always reading and clipping newspaper articles, always working to make things better,' said a planning colleague, Rachel Edds. By the end of the 1970s, he decided to change careers and bought a 290-acre farm in Clear Spring in Washington County, Maryland. 'My father was inspired by his Uncle Charlie's farm in Johnsonville, New York. He and my mother spent weekends looking for a farm property, even looking in England and Ireland,' said his daughter, Joyce Holbrook. 'He designed and built a passive solar house with a wood stove and large greenhouse.' 'Every morning for years, my father fed the barn cats that got dropped off by the dozens at the old dairy barn,' his daughter said. Mr. Curran organically farmed about 5 acres of vegetables and sold them to local markets, restaurants, and at the weekly Hagerstown Farmers Market. He also worked for the Washington County government. 'My father was more concerned that people were eating healthy vegetables than how much he got for them. It was a labor of love,' his daughter said. Terral M. Jordan, T. Rowe Price venture capitalist, dies Todd Liddell Parchman, investment banker, dies Jim Henneman, Baltimore sportswriter and former Orioles scorekeeper, dies James Albert Zitzer Sr., electrical designer, dies Sally B. Gold, attorney and 'fierce defender of the underrepresented,' dies Mr. Curran put the farm into land preservation under the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation. After 15 years of living on the farm, Mr. Curran and his wife pursued another dream. They lived for a year in London's West Hampstead and then resided in Prague for five years. 'My father loved European cities, their trains and stations. He also appreciated the government support for the arts, local markets, historic centers and neighborhoods,' his daughter said. 'He applied the perspective of a city planner, thinking about what made places livable and vibrant.' While in Europe, the couple traveled by train, gardened and attended concerts. Mr. Curran was a devotee of the operas of the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. He gardened with the Mount Washington Arboretum and the Mount Washington Community Garden on Rogers Avenue. He attended the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Peabody Institute concerts. Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Anne Curran, a teacher and vice principal; a daughter, Joyce Holbrook, of Upperco; a brother, James Curran, of Hailey, Idaho; and two grandchildren. Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at and 410-332-6570.
