About Us

The Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force was established in May 2002 in response to growing concern about tick-borne diseases in our community. That year, Ridgefield reported 95 Lyme disease cases according to the Connecticut Department of Health. The only town to exceed that number was our neighbor Danbury, reporting 109 cases. Also of concern were the numbers released by the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station showing a steady rise annually in the number of black-legged or “deer” ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative organism of Lyme disease. Since its inception, the task force has sought to educate the community through seminars, newspaper articles, public speaking engagements and literature distribution at town events. The task force is always open to new opportunities for educating our citizens about Lyme disease prevention, reducing the number of ticks in town and private spaces and supporting individuals who are presently afflicted with a tick-borne illness.