A Chadds Ford Township Civic Association task force on Lyme
disease recommends a three-pronged approach to reduce the number of Lyme
incidents. One of those prongs is a hunt to drastically reduce the deer
population in the township.

The association’s Peter Jesson presented the results of the
study to the Board of Supervisors during their Jan. 6 meeting. Lyme is a
tick-borne illness that has a wide variety of debilitating symptoms. It’s
spread by deer ticks.

Jesson said the task force surveyed the township getting 437
respondents. Of those who responded, 43 percent have had he disease, 44 people
have had multiple occurrences and 34 were undergoing treatment at the time of
the survey.

Additionally, nine people reported delays in diagnosis and
nine reported serious complications such as arthritis, nerve damage, meningitis
and muscle loss, according to the survey.

Jesson said Lyme is “epidemic” in the township.

The first phase of the recommended approach to getting Lyme
under control might be controversial. Jesson recommended working with the United
States Department of Agriculture to see whether the township qualifies for a
program that would bring in sharpshooters to cull the deer population.

He said a controlled hunt could get the number of deer down
from an estimated 100 per square mile to about 10 deer per square mile. Jesson
cited cases in Connecticut and Massachusetts where drastically reducing the
deer population also reduced the number of Lyme disease cases.

“Lyme is associated with the white deer population. If you
bring that down, you bring Lyme down,’ Jesson said. “And you can bring it down
dramatically.”

The hunt, according to the task force, would involve
bringing in experienced sharpshooters using night vision equipment and
noise-suppressed rifles. Large open space areas of land would be baited and the
herd culled at night, December through April. It would cost about $2,000
per  day. Deer meat would be
distributed to the needy.

In addition to the hunt, a second approach would be chemical
treatment.

That treatment involves getting special four-poster deer
feeders that force deer to stick their heads through insecticide coated rollers.
When the deer try to feed from the feeders, insecticide is applied to their
ears and that kills the ticks.

Chemical treatment would cost about $130,000 to start, then
about $75,000 per year for maintenance. The feeders would operate in spring and
fall. About 100 feeders would be needed, according to the report.

The third prong would be public education. Jesson said
people can be taught ways not to get bitten by ticks.

The board made no decision. Jesson said more studies need to
be made so more township residents can be heard from, but the task force
recommends hiring USDA next winter to begin culling the deer population.

Jesson and the task force also recommend public discussion
of the costs and benefits of the recommendations with consideration of a
referendum

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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