Alameda County Lyme Disease Surveillance, 2000-2001

Annual Report FY 2000-2001, Alameda County Vector Control Services

The district will identify ticks and mites, and will authorize testing for tick borne disease when appropriate. Fifty-seven residents of Alameda County were bitten by ticks, and submitted them to the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory for Lyme disease testing. Some additional samples were sent to IgeneX, a private laboratory for PCR Testing. One of the Ixodes pacificus ticks tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease.

Sunol / Ohlone Regional Park
Staff conducted a tick survey at Sunol/Ohlone Regional Park in April of 2000, in response to a report of a confirmed case of Lyme disease by a visitor to the park. Twenty-five Western Black Legged Ticks, Ixodes pacificus, were collected and submitted to the Alameda County Public Health laboratory for testing. One of the tick pools, containing about 5 ticks, tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete responsible for Lyme Disease.