“This has been the worst thing we’ve ever experienced,” said Schwartz’s wife, Ann-Marie Magne’, her voice cracking with emotion. “Our 26th anniversary is this month, and he’s going to be in the hospital.”

Officials with the Alachua County Health Department have confirmed that tickborne illnesses, including Ehrlichiosis (er-lick-ee-O-sis), Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, are on the rise this year, citing the early and warm spring as the possible cause for a boom in the tick population.

“For me, I’m seeing an increase, but I know to look for it,” said Dr. Kimberly Kaye, a physician with Haile Medical Group who specializes in tickborne illnesses. “I think that tickborne illnesses are under-recognized, so I think not many people are knowing to check for it.”

According to the Florida Department of Health, flu-like symptoms are similar for all three diseases, but Lyme disease often shows a “bull’s-eye” rash around the bite area three to 30 days after being bitten. if not treated, Lyme disease can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system.

With Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, some patients get a rash on the arms, legs, hands and feet. Three percent to 5 percent of patients die from RMSF.

According to the CDC, symptoms of Ehrlichiosis include:

– Nausea / Vomiting / Diarrhea.

– Conjunctival injection (red eyes).

Rash (in up to 60 percent of children, less than 30 percent of adults).

The health department has four probable cases on record of Ehrlichiosis so far this year. There was one confirmed case and two probable cases in all of last year.

Experts agree that the weather could be the culprit in increased tick numbers.

“The early spring may be playing a role,” said Phillip Kaufman, a veterinary entomologist at the University of Florida.

Tick disease can be difficult to diagnosis definitively — blood work needs to be done, and it can take weeks to get results, Kaye said.

“Once you start looking and realizing how prevalent it is, you start associating it with symptoms I’ve seen for years,” Kaye said. “Things that you don’t understand fully or completely then make sense.”

Doctors are awaiting official word from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Schwartz was infected with Ehrlichiosis, but he is responding to treatment for the disease. other antibiotics had not helped.

Magne’ said Schwartz was bitten by a tick around April 30, probably as he worked in their garden adjacent to San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. Within two weeks, he was running a fever of 103, his feet and ankles were swollen, and he was throwing up. Magne’ said it took doctors at North Florida Regional days to figure out what was wrong with Schwartz, ruling out first an infection and then lymphoma.

Kaufman, the entomologist, said the lone star tick is probably the culprit behind Schwartz’s Ehrlichiosis, as it matures in the spring and summer. the black-legged tick also carries Ehrlichiosis, but it matures in the fall. both feed on deer, which can carry the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ehrlichiosis was first recognized as a disease in the late 1980s. Cases have shot up from almost non-existent in the mid-1990s, when it was not required to be reported, to more than 1,000 cases in 2008, the last year for which data are available. nearly 4 percent of people who contracted the bacterial infection in 2003 died as a result — but fatality percentages are declining. may, June, July and August are the top months for contracting it.

North Florida Regional ICU nurse Evelyn Ormsbee, 60, was the one confirmed case last year. She was bitten by a tick in November and by Thanksgiving weekend had to check herself into the hospital after antibiotics had failed to bring down her high fever.

“The public needs to be aware of this so they can go to the doctor, because if they don’t, it could be devastating,” Ormsbee said. “It’s horrible — you can have brain damage, kidney failure, all kinds of horrible stuff.”

Ehrlichiosis is a serious illness that can be fatal if not treated correctly, even in previously healthy people, according to the CDC.

Schwartz has suffered from kidney and liver failure, along with disseminated intravascular coagulation, which leads to the formation of small blood clots inside the blood vessels throughout the body, disrupting normal coagulation and normal blood flow to the organs, and causing abnormal bleeding from the skin. Schwartz was on a ventilator for a week and continues with dialysis. while he is getting better nearly seven weeks after being bitten by a tick, Schwartz is still very sick.

According to the Florida Department of Health, there are no vaccines that prevent tickborne diseases. Avoiding tick bites is the best way to reduce the risk of becoming ill. Ticks live in moist and humid environments, particularly in or near wooded or grassy areas. You might come into contact with ticks during outdoor activities around your home or when walking through vegetation such as leaf litter or shrubs.

Kaufman said if you find a tick on you or are bitten by one, it takes hours — sometimes as much as 24 hours — before the pathogen is passed on to the host. Most people remove the bug before the disease is transmitted. in fact, Kaufman said, few people who are bitten fall ill.

Ormsbee and Kaufman said if you are bitten by a tick, you should put it in some alcohol and save it for 30 days. if you are symptom-free after that time, you can get rid of it. But if you develop symptoms, the tick should be taken to a doctor to determine what you might have because different ticks carry different pathogens.

Both Magne’ and Ormsbee urge that you call your doctor right away if you think you might have a tickborne disease.

“Our neighbor took a tick off her shirt last weekend,” Magne’ said. “It could happen anywhere.”

Contact Kimberly Moore Wilmoth at 374-5036 or .