By ABIGAIL NITKA
Printed in the Times Argus 05/05/2002

When Dr. Maria Dunton started caring for pets in the Rutland area 18 years ago, ticks were uncommon.

"The first 10 years I didn't even see a tick, and then you'd see one every other year or so," Dunton said Friday from her office at the Eastwood Animal Clinic.

In recent years, however, the eight-legged bloodsuckers have made their presence known.

"There has been a remarkable increase in the number of ticks we're seeing," Dunton said. "They are definitely increasing in frequency."

While Dunton and other vets have seen an increase in ticks, there is no formal database on the parasites and their history in the state.

That is about to change, however, with a joint effort by the departments of Forests and Parks, Agriculture and Health aimed at determining the different types of tick species and their distribution levels in the state.

The departments have equipped 24 veterinarians across Vermont with tick-collection kits, including a vial filled with alcohol to store the samples, a tick identification form and plastic foam packaging for mailing them to the state laboratory.

"We have no idea the tick species we have or their abundance," said Jon Turmel, a state entomologist with the Department of Agriculture. "Tick-borne diseases are becoming more and more important. We need to be proactive and know what species we have and where they are heaviest."

The surveillance project formally started at the end of April, he said.

Different species of ticks are attracted to different types of animals, but the study will focus on ticks that attach to pets and humans, he said.

The Vermont Department of Health hopes the information will lead to better knowledge about the human diseases, including Lyme disease, that are transmitted by ticks, said Patsy Tassler, an epidemiologist with the Department of Health.

"There are implications for human health, so it's helpful for us to know what ticks are around throughout the whole state," Tassler said. "Certain tick species can transmit certain diseases."

Trish Hanson, an entomologist at the forest biology lab charged with record keeping for the new project, was excited about the prospect of a tick database.

"It"s a whole new great thing to be doing to find out what they're on and how they are moving," she said.

Hanson's colleague Dick Dearborn, a survey entomologist with the Maine Forest Service, has been collecting similar data on tick populations in Maine since 1986. The Maine database is so extensive at this point that Dearborn can tell prospective tourists when and where they should travel to avoid ticks and other pests.

"We know how ticks have moved over the years," Dearborn said. "We know what they are feeding on. We basically are able to determine where there is a risk. "

"We always have a certain number of people who say, "Where can I go and not get bitten by ticks or blackflies or mosquitoes?' We can tell them that."

Dearborn can also calculate which part of Maine carries the lowest risk for Lyme disease, he said.

The Vermont study will start by collecting information on where the tick was picked up, what animal it was on, its physical condition, stage of life and other identification data, Hanson said.

When it has gathered more momentum the database may be used to track wildlife populations and diseases carried by the ticks, she said.