Ticks that were previously confined to specific regions in the U.S. are growing in population and spreading into new areas, exposing residents to more tick-borne diseases.
Experts attribute the spread of ticks to new regions to warmer temperatures and large populations of host rodents that serve as vectors for some tick-borne diseases.
“Ticks can now move further north than they could before and establish populations,” said Mandy Roome, associate director of the Binghamton University Tick-borne Disease Center.
“Going back maybe 15 or 20 years ago, there wasn’t much of an issue. Ticks were still around, people still got tick-borne diseases, but it wasn’t quite the problem that it is now. We’re also having really mild winters,” she said.
Human development also facilitates the spread of tick-borne diseases, said Ms. Roome, adding that people create “these fabulous habitats for really competent reservoirs (like mice)” and also drive out animals that prey on the mice.
Orkin entomologist Ben Hottel told Fox News that “another reason for the spread of ticks is the expansion of human developments into wildlife habitats, which helps ticks more easily find human hosts.”
The Northeast and Midwest have the highest rates of tick bites. Recent tallies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 121 emergency room visits for tick bites per 100,000 total visits in the Northeast this year.
There were 79 visits per 100,000 in the Midwest, 33 per 100,000 in the Southeast, 16 per 100,000 out West and 10 per 100,000 in the South Central region that includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
There are about 500,000 new cases of tick-borne disease in the U.S. each year, with roughly 95% of those cases occurring in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, according to a report from Binghamton University.
Lyme disease is the most common, affecting about 476,000 Americans yearly, according to the CDC, but there are other diseases spread by ticks.
“Ticks can actually expose people in the U.S. to more than a dozen different disease-causing agents. The illnesses can range from mild to life-threatening,” CDC Vector-Borne Diseases Division epidemiologist Alison Hinckley told NPR.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.