Thursday, June 25, 2015

Schuylkill County Low on List of New Reported Lyme Disease Cases in Pennsylvania

The Department of Health recently released their 2014 report on new Lyme Disease cases in Pennsylvania and Schuylkill County ranked low on the list.


Based on the report, Schuylkill County ranked 49th out of Pennsylvania's 67 counties in new cases in 2014.

The report does show that 2014 recorded the most cases since 1999 in the county.

Out of the entire state of Pennsylvania, 36 cases were reported in the county.  Allegheny County reported the most cases with over 800 cases reported.  Sullivan and Greene Counties ranked at the bottom with 5.

Some surrounding counties ranked higher
  • Luzerne County - 8th - 206 cases
  • Berks - 18th - 150 cases
  • Lehigh - 19th - 140 cases
  • Columbia - 22nd - 106 cases
  • Northumberland - 49th - 59 cases
The image below depicts the average in new cases over the last 5 years.



Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection released information back in April that all counties were at risk of Lyme Disease due to the findings of Blacklegged (deer) ticks.
http://www.skooknews.com/2015/04/lyme-disease-risk-in-all-67-counties-of.html


Full report at
http://www.health.pa.gov/Documents/LymeReport2014.xlsx