Lyme Disease Cases Jump 41 Percent To 16,461; Most Are In Northeast U.S.

Reported cases of Lyme disease, a potentially fatal illness caused by tick bites, climbed to 16,461 last year in 45 states - the highest count since the government started keeping track in 1982.

A thriving tick population, especially in the Northeast, is partly to blame. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that doctors are becoming more vigilant in diagnosing and reporting cases.

“There is an increased awareness of Lyme disease,” said Dr. Kathy Orloski, a CDC epidemiologist. “Doctors in areas where Lyme disease is endemic are becoming quite familiar with it.”

Lyme disease comes from bacteria carried by the deer tick in the East and the western black-legged tick in the West. Within a few days, the bacteria cause flu-like symptoms and often a rash near the bite.

Caught early, Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated, the bacteria spread to the central nervous system, heart and brain, and in rare cases can kill.

Connaught Laboratories, a Swiftwater, Pa.-subsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc Group, plans to seek approval for the first-ever human Lyme disease vaccine by the end of the year, citing good results in a study of 10,000 people.

The 1996 cases are up 41 percent from the 11,700 reported the year before. A snowy winter last year, especially in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, protected tick nests from predators, and the wet spring and summer gave the deer tick ideal conditions in which to thrive.

About 90 percent of last year’s cases were in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. New York topped the list with 5,301 cases. The disease was first identified in Lyme, Conn., in 1976.