A noted entomologist will speak at 7:30 tonight in 112 Chambers on Lyme Disease, a rare but growing disorder caused by a bacterium transported by the deer tick.

In humans, the bacterium affects the nervous system, skin, and heart and is often accompanied by fever, headache, fatigue and an arthritis-like stiffening of the joints.

Durland Fish, director of the medical entomology laboratory at the New York College of Medicine, will talk about the outbreak and control of the disease in southern New York.

Because the bacterium is carried by the deer tick, it can be transported easily from animals in the wild to domestic pets and eventually to humans, especially those who live near wooded areas and grasslands in eastern North America.

"It's about time the students got educated about this," said Greg Hoover, extension entomologist and faculty adviser for the University's Undergraduate Entomology Club, which is co-sponsoring the program with the department of entomology.

"In 1986, 30 cases were reported in Pennsylvania. In 1988, it was 306. But more importantly, 1,500 are reported each year in Connecticut and New York. A lot of students come from these hotspots," he said.

"Fish's credentials are extensive," Hoover said. "He has written 35 articles for scientific publications and he's been in Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. He's a nationally known expert on Lyme Disease."

Robert Snetsinger, professor of entomology, said he and two other professors recently received a three-year, $40,000 per year grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for research in this field.

"By studying the patterns we can pinpoint which areas of the state need to worry and which don't. But we don't want to create a panic," Snetsinger said.

Such a grant is the first the University has received for Lyme Disease, however, and this may reflect the state's growing concern over the disease, Snetsinger said.