The State Senate this week passed a handful of bills to help combat the spread of Lyme disease in New York state

The State Senate this week passed a handful of bills to help combat the spread of Lyme disease in New York state.

Lyme disease can cause fever, rash, joint pain, fatigue and at times serious joint and nervous system complications. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention record around 30,000 cases every year, but not all cases are recorded and the agency believes the number could be much higher. The CDC has also reported that New York state has the third-highest number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease in the entire country, behind only Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

New York state saw 3,252 confirmed cases of Lyme disease and another 1,062 probable cases in 2015. New York is considered a "High Incidence State" by the CDC with a three-year average of 16.2 cases per 100,000 persons.

In Livingston County, there were 2 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in 2015, and 21 between 2000 and 2014, according to CDC. The county's incidence rate of 3.1 cases per 100,000 between 2012 and 2014 was among the lowest in the state, though the state health department cautions that with few than 10 cases, the rate is considered unstable.

The legislative package was introduced based on work conducted by the Senate'sTask Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases.

The first bill in the package would require the State Health Care Quality and Cost Containment Commission to meet annually and submit a report on the impact of providing insurance coverage for Lyme and tick-borne disease. Insurance companies currently are not required to provide long-term health treatment for those infected with the disease.

"Because New York state has the third-highest number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease in the nation, we must do everything we can to ensure that our citizens have the information and resources they need to protect themselves from this critical public health issue," said Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, in a news release.

A second bill would ensure medical professionals are properly trained to treat patients with Lyme or other tick-borne diseases by authorizing the Department of Health to award grants for needed medical training.

The third measure would direct the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation to develop guidelines for best practices in treating residential properties to reduce exposure to ticks,

The prospects of the three-bill passing in the Assembly are uncertain, according to media reports.

The first two bills passed the Senate last year, but did not get to a vote in the Assembly. The third bill does not have an Assembly sponsor.

The Senate also passed a resolution designating May 2017 as Lyme Disease Awareness Month in New York state.

Ticks can easily survive mild winters and once spring comes, they search for hosts. The ticks will leap onto a host and immediately begin feeding, burying its head in the skin and staying there.

Data released earlier this year suggests that 2017 could be a high-risk year for Lyme disease in the Northeast because of warmer winters.

Health officials suggest adding a tick-check to one's daily routine this year, whether it's after hiking or just mowing the lawn. Ticks can be tiny and like to hide in places like the scalp, armpits, behind the ears and in the groin area.

If a tick is found, it should be quickly removed from its host by the head with a pair of tweezers.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease show up between three and 30 days after a bite, with fever, chills, fatigue, aches and often rashes that feel warm and sometimes emerge as a bulls-eye shape.

Two ecologists, Felicia Keesing and Rick Ostfeld, told NPR that last summer's "mouse plague" in the Hudson River Valley signaled a more serious problem to come.

While Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, more commonly called deer ticks, the scientists said one key predictor for the disease is the number of mice in an area the year before.

Mice transmit Lyme disease efficiently, infecting up to 95 percent of all ticks that feed on them. More mice mean more infected ticks the following season.