Ticks are a serious problem in the United States. By now this should not be news to any American, as the rate of tick-borne diseases have been increasing rapidly over the course of the last twenty years in America. When considering tick-borne diseases, the most serious has to be lyme disease. People all over America are well aware of lyme disease and the symptoms that develop in those who have been infected. Luckily for most Americans, lyme disease rates are at their highest in the northeastern region of America. Although several other types of tick-borne disease, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, can infect people living in the west, the most serious cases of tick-borne disease occur in the northeast. Traditionally, US citizens living in any other region have been led to believe that lyme disease is not a threat to them. However, this is changing rapidly, as experts have found that lyme disease has spread to all fifty states in America.
The fact that lyme disease has spread to all fifty states, including Alaska and Hawaii, has taken even tick experts by surprise, as public health officials have traditionally reported that lyme is only a risk to people living in certain US regions. The news was reported by a private company called Quest Diagnostics. This company has analyzed over six million blood tests that had been gathered over a period of seven years. The blood samples were gathered from residents living in every US state. The company found that both California and Florida saw the biggest surge in lyme infection rates. These two states used to be considered largely lyme disease-free by experts. The researchers working for Quest Diagnostics believe that lyme-carrying ticks are finding it easier to survive in areas that used to be largely inhospitable to them. Although lyme infection rates are increasing all over the US, the northeastern states remain number one when it comes to lyme infection rates. The states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont account for sixty percent of known lyme disease cases. The states of Georgia, Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia have seen the most significant increases in lyme infection rates, according to officials with Quest Diagnostics.
Does it surprise you to learn that lyme-carrying ticks are able to survive in arid regions?