Lyme Disease Is Growing, Spreading To New Areas: CDC Study

Incidents of Lyme disease are on the increase, and not in just the usual places. The geographical spread of the disease is widening, according to the CDC.

Over the last 20 years, in the Northeast—which included counties in New York, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts, among others—the number of counties with a high rate of the disease increased from 43 to 182, more than 320 percent.

In the north-central counties in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, where Lyme disease isn’t historically seen, that rate was up 250 percent, from 22 to 78 counties.

The reason for this uptick? Climate change, the scientists say.

As the climate warms, ticks can survive in more environments, like the ones studied in those frigid north-central states.

Scientists also say that as humans clear forests, popular tick targets like mice begin to find other homes, leaving ticks with fewer mammals to latch on to. So they go to another abundant source passing through their area: humans.

“Our results show that geographic expansion of high-risk areas is ongoing, emphasizing the need to identify broadly implementable and effective public health interventions to prevent human Lyme disease,” the CDC report says.

Lyme disease is a nasty infection caused by tick bites and has been in national news recently when Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne caught the disease and cried through an interview about it on Good Morning America.