No cases of measles, either indigenous or imported, were reported in Ohio in 1997. Continued vigilance in diagnosing and reporting suspected and confirmed cases of measles must persist. This increase was related to the introduction of raccoon-strain rabies into northeastern Ohio in late 1996 and establishment of the same in 1997, with subsequent increased surveillance efforts by local and state health department personnel, resulting in submission of more animals for testing. Increased public awareness about rabies around the state also resulted in more submissions of bats for rabies testing, with subsequent positive findings. Tables in the Annual Summary provide frequencies of these diseases by county, by age group, and by month of report.
Technical notes accompany the tables.
To access the 1997 Annual Summary of Infectious Diseases on the Web, click on Data and Statistics, then Infectious Diseases, then Annual Summary. The object of this surveillance program is to detect possible infestations of the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis , which is the primary vector of Lyme disease to humans in the eastern U.S. but is not yet established in Ohio. Last year examinations of deer took place during the deer gun-hunting season, November 30 through December 5, 1998. Examination of deer for black-legged ticks during the fall and winter is effective because this is the time of year that this tick reaches maturity and feeds and mates on deer. Finding these ticks on deer prompts follow-up field investigations in an attempt to discover an established population of this tick in Ohio.