Up in Dutchess and Putnam
The number of Lyme disease cases reported in Dutchess County in 2017 rose by 50 percent compared to the year before. In Putnam, the number of reported cases rose only slightly.
There were 581 cases of Lyme reported in Dutchess last year, or about 510 per 100,000 residents, compared to 386 in 2016. Putnam had 346 reported cases, or about 287 per 100,000 residents, compared to 344 the year before.
In a study reported in May, about half of adult deer ticks collected statewide carried the bacteria that causes Lyme, along with 27 percent of the nymphs, which account for most infections because they are smaller and harder to see.
The highest concentration of ticks in the state was found in the Hudson Valley; more than eight in 10 ticks in Orange County were infected. Ticks in Putnam County were not counted or tested, but in Dutchess 32 percent of the adult ticks collected carried the bacteria that causes Lyme.
