Resident: 4-posters haven't reduced Lyme disease here
During the audience participation segment of Tuesday’s Shelter Island Town Board work session, the board heard resident Rich Kelly report that statistics he had obtained from the state Health Department showed there had been no decline or change whatsoever in the reported incidence in Lyme disease on Shelter Island since it began deploying 4-poster deer feeding stations in 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Kelly circulated tables that showed a very low incidence of the disease on the Island, from a high of 26 cases in the year 2000 to fewer than five cases a year in most years since 2003.
“You need more data” than that produced by dragging for ticks “to say it works,” Mr. Kelly said of the 4-poster, which applies a permethrin solution to the heads and necks of deer as they feed on corn. A Cornell study of a three-year 4-poster trial here, using North Haven as a control site, showed the 4-posters were highly effective at killing ticks in a wide area. But the goal of the 4-poster program has been to reduce the incidence of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Mr. Kelly said the state data showed there was no connection between the devices and any decline.
Supervisor Jim Dougherty said he’d pass the information on to the town’s Deer & Tick Committee and put the topic on a future work session agenda for further discussion.
