Rate of tick-borne disease higher than suspected

Ehrlichiosis, a disease carried by the same tick that transmits Lyme disease, is occurring at much higher rates than previously suspected. A three-year surveillance study of southeastern Connecticut residents found annual rates of ehrlichiosis ranging from 24 to 51 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. As happened with Lyme disease after it was first described by Yale scientists in the mid-1970s, rates of reporting of ehrlichiosis are expected to rise rapidly. The annual rate of Lyme disease in the same survey area is 300 cases per 100,000 persons, up from the 50 cases per 100,000 people in the 1970s, according to associate research scientist Jacob IJdo, M.D., who was the lead author of the study.