Senate votes to provide more funding to fight Lyme disease

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed spending legislation for 2019 that increases funding for the Centers for Disease Control to combat Lyme disease by about $1.3 million as fall begins, a time when ticks are still active.

The spending bill includes an amendment drafted by Senate Minority Leader Charles B. Schumer, D-N.Y., that increases funding to the CDC to combat Lyme disease from $10.7 million in 2018 to $12 million in 2019.

“Upstate New York has been feeling the brutal bite of Lyme disease and tick-borne illnesses for years now, and thankfully this long-overdue increase in CDC funding will give us the resources we need to strike back,” Schumer said. “New Yorkers and their children shouldn’t have to worry that spending time outside in their backyards will leave them with a debilitating ailment like Lyme disease, and this funding will help to prevent that.”

Locally, nearby Columbia and Greene counties had the highest rates of Lyme disease incidents per 100,000 people in the Capital Region from 2013 to 2015, according to the most recent available data from the state Health Department.

The CDC provides tips on its website for preventing tick-borne illnesses:

n Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin, which can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings.

n Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.

n Walk in the center of trails.

n Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors, or wash in hot water.

n Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and daypacks.

n Shower within two hours of coming indoors, which has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tick borne diseases.

n Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, including your own backyard.