Spring in Iowa means — it’s tick time

Johnson County has led the state in each of the past five years in the number of reported cases of tick-borne Lyme disease.

While there's no reason for residents to panic or stay indoors, they should take measures to protect themselves from tick bites, State Epidemiologist Dr. Patricia Quinlisk said.

Joel Nizolek of rural Shueyville, one of the 60 Johnson County residents diagnosed with Lyme disease last year, said he, too, does not want to scare anyone.

'Well, actually I do,” said Nizolek, who still is recovering from Lyme disease caused by a tick bite late last June. 'Believe me, you don't want to get this disease, especially children.”

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Johnson County, with 4.5 percent of the state's population, recorded 21.1 percent of the 285 cases reported last year to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Similarly elevated case totals and percentages were reported in the preceding four years:

l 2014 - 42 of 193, 21.8 percent

l 2013 - 40 of 250, 16 percent

l 2012 - 26 of 165, 15.8 percent

l 2011 - 13 of 100, 13 percent.

Acknowledging that the county has been 'historically overrepresented,” Johnson County Health Director Douglas Beardsley suggested Thursday that better reporting by physicians and a higher concentration of infected ticks may be contributing factors.

Quinlisk confirmed that an increase in infected ticks - generally spreading from the northeast to the southwest across the state - and better detection by medical personnel are the chief factors driving the growth in confirmed Lyme disease cases in Iowa.

Nationwide, the number of reported cases has remained steady at about 30,000 per year, according to the CDC, which acknowledges that 'only a fraction of illnesses are reported.”

Results of two CDC studies 'suggest that the number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the United States is around 300,000,” the agency said on its website.

In Iowa, the average number of reported cases per year has increased from 18.5 in the 1990s to 180 over the past six years, according to Department of Health records.

In Johnson County, the 2015 incidence rate was 43.2 cases per 100,000 residents, almost five times higher than the statewide rate of 9.2. Three other Iowa counties had higher incidence rates last year - Clayton, 79.1; Delaware, 51.4; and Benton, 46.7.

Linn County, which had the second-highest number of cases last year, 38, had an incidence rate of 17.6 cases per 100,000 residents.

While the bulk of the cases and the highest incidence rates have so far been confined to Eastern Iowa, Quinlisk said she expects that to change as the infected ticks gradually spread across the state.

‘The last 10 percent'

Nizolek said his continuing bout with Lyme disease began when a tick bored into his neck as he worked in his lawn in a wooded area of northern Johnson County. At least three other people within two miles of his residence contracted Lyme disease last year, he said.

Though Nizolek did not develop the characteristic red bull's eye rash, a red lesion formed at the site of the bite, followed by the onset of symptoms that included headache, fatigue, muscle aches and weakness, facial palsy, numbness around his lips, impaired vision, night sweats and shortness of breath.

The severity of those symptoms, he said, caused him to miss about a month's work.

Nizolek said he researched Lyme disease on the Internet and began following dietary and nutritional protocols that began to relieve some of his symptoms by Labor Day, more than two month's after the tick bite.

On Oct. 22. Nizolek said he made his first visit to Fox Valley Wellness Center in Fond du Lac, Wis., a clinic that has treated more than 2,000 Lyme disease cases.

Doctors there, he said, confirmed the Lyme disease diagnosis along with three co-infections, adjusted some of his protocols and prescribed additional treatments.

Nizolek said he would rate his recovery at 90 percent.

'The last 10 percent is the hardest to regain because the bacteria can do lasting damage to organs and is very tricky to eradicate completely,” he said.

A lifelong outdoors enthusiast, Nizolek said he would not let his experience keep him indoors.

'I would strongly advocate that if you are going outside in a wooded area, cover your skin with clothing, apply plenty of tick repellent and frequently check for and remove any ticks,” he said.