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Health department reports Region 1 anthrax exercise, routine inspections and stable tick positivity
Summary
New Canaan health department told commissioners it took part in a Region 1 full-scale anthrax exercise, completed April refuse and septic truck inspections, and reported tick submission increases but similar positivity ratios; changes in state testing limit comparisons for some pathogens.
The New Canaan health department reported it participated in a Region 1 full-scale anthrax exercise — the first large exercise the department has run since the COVID pandemic — and identified training gaps in Incident Command System roles, the health department official said.
The update, delivered to the New Canaan Human Services Advisory Commission by the health department official (S4), said the exercise revealed that "a lot of training we still need to do, and some people have forgotten what the ICS roles actually mean." The official added the exercise included CERT volunteers and municipal partners and that Russ attended as well.
The official also summarized recent routine work: refuse and septic truck inspections were completed in April, with no failures reported, and a suicide prevention presentation was delivered to CERT volunteers by Shannon and Valerie.
On vector-borne disease, the health department official presented tick-submission data for 2024 and 2025. "The number of ticks has increased that we're getting submitted, but the ratio seems to be staying around the same for the number of positives versus the number we're seeing," the official said, cautioning that year-to-year comparisons are complicated because "the state changed what they were testing for" in 2024 and did not consistently test for Powassan and some other pathogens that year.
Commissioners asked whether soil testing relates to tick work; the official clarified that soil testing reported in the packet refers to septic-project soil testing (for new systems, repairs or rebuilds), not tick surveillance.
The health department said staffing remains steady: Kelsey is certified to deliver trainings while an employee is on leave soon, and the department will continue to provide monthly updates on Silver Hill services and other ongoing work.
The commission did not take formal policy action on the health report; the presentation was recorded as part of routine departmental updates and will be followed up at the next meeting when additional Silver Hill data are available.
