Tick search reveals disease risk

By John Hilliard / Boston Herald
Monday, June 13, 2005

WESTON -- A study of Lyme disease by two sophomores at Weston High School could help locals stay healthy this summer.

"We were discovering something new," said Sabrina Liu, 16.

The two teens -- Liu and partner Suzanne Reny, also 16 -- spent three days scouring areas around town, including Newton Street, Highland Street, College Pond, Cat Rock and Coburn Street, searching for ticks, hoping to learn how many carried the bacteria which can cause Lyme disease.

They hoped the project would not only serve science, but be a service to the community.

"It definitely raised people's awareness," said Liu. "Most people didn't know it was happening in Weston."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 23,000 cases of Lyme Disease occurred in the U.S. in 2002. However, experts believe the disease is greatly underreported.

Disease-carrying ticks are common in the Northeast and upper Midwest regions of the U.S., and the peak season for spreading the bacteria for Lyme disease is late spring through the summer. While the disease is rarely fatal, if left untreated, it can cause cognitive disorders, sleep problems, fatigue and personality changes.

In Weston, the teens caught about 50 deer ticks, which, unlike dog ticks, can carry Lyme disease. Since deer ticks are barely larger than the period at the end of this sentence, the high schoolers used a large bolt of fabric that was brushed along the ground to snare the ticks. Adding a bit of high-tech to a school science project, Liu used her father's lab to test whether the ticks carried the disease.

Dr. Leo Liu's company, Woburn-based Cambria Biosciences, specializes in testing drug compounds, but his background is in infectious diseases. He said he hopes this science project can raise people's awareness of the dangers of Lyme Disease.

"The general public should just be aware that it's not a new disease -- it's established here," he said.

Dr. Liu contacted a friend who specializes in tick biology to learn a relatively simple test that determines whether a tick carries Lyme disease-causing bacteria.

"Pretty much everything could be done in a high school biology lab," said Liu.

Of 36 ticks tested, 29 percent were carrying the Lyme disease-causing bacteria borrelia burgdorferi.