Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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628. To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider placing signs in places of recreation where ticks are prevalent in the Dublin area and other counties to raise awareness of Lyme disease as per the Health Protection Surveillance Centre campaign in Killarney, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22277/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Lyme disease (also known as Lyme borreliosis or LB) is an infection caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi that is transmitted to humans by bites from ticks infected with the bacteria. The infection is generally mild affecting only the skin, but can occasionally be more severe and highly debilitating. Lyme disease is the commonest cause of tick-borne infection in Europe.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) of the HSE collects and collates surveillance data on notifiable infectious diseases. Lyme borreliosis is notifiable in Ireland since 2012; the notifiable entity being the more severe neurological form of LB: Lyme neuroborreliosis.

The number of annual neuroborreliosis notifications over the last few years is as follows:

- 2012 – 8 cases;

- 2013 – 13 cases;

- 2014 – 18 cases;

- 2015 – 12 cases.

This gives an average annual incidence rate of neuroborreliosis in Ireland of about 2.7 neuroborreliosis cases per million population.

Since 2013, the HPSC has held an annual ‘Lyme Awareness Week’ at the beginning of the tick biting season, the purpose of which is to draw attention - particularly in the media - to Lyme disease and the ticks that can spread this disease. The week beginning May 2 was designated as Lyme Awareness Week this year.

The literature on the HPSC website points out that that campers, walkers and certain occupational groups such as forestry workers, conservation workers, deer cullers and farmers are at particular risk of exposure to ticks (and therefore LB). That said, anyone walking or hiking in the countryside is at risk of biting ticks. The ticks responsible for LB are generally hard-bodied ticks (Ixodidae). Ixodes ticks are hosted by a wide range of mammals including deer, sheep and cows, and occasionally birds; their tiny size (less than 2mm unfed) means they can remain undetected for long periods.

Ixodes ticks are most likely to be found in:

- Shady and humid woodland clearings with grass;

- Open grassland, walking paths (especially those bordered by long grasses);

- Wooded and forested areas;

- Vegetation close to lakes and seaside beaches;

- Parkland areas; and

- Open fields and bushes.

They are present in both urban and rural environments and are active from spring to autumn. Lyme cases tend to appear in Ireland with greater frequency after April, hence the choice of this time of year for Lyme Awareness Week.

The HPSC emphasise that prevention of tick bites is the most effective way to prevent LB and a comprehensive amount of which will enable the public to:

- Identify likely areas of tick infestation;

- Habits to develop to prevent tick biting them and their families; and

- Habits to develop to examine oneself (and one’s children and pets) to remove any ticks they discover after a day in the country.

In addition, a Lyme Borreliosis Subcommittee has been established to look at methods of raising awareness especially in those areas (including recreation areas) where Lyme carrying ticks can be most expected to be found.