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Ticks Carry More Than Just Lyme Disease

When it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal, conditions.

In fact, the number of tick-borne disease cases is on the rise in the United States. The range where various species of ticks live in North America may be expanding due to climate change. Researchers continue to discover new pathogens that live in ticks. And new, invasive tick species keep turning up. In my career as a public health entomologist, I’ve been amazed at the ability of ticks to bounce back from all the ways people try to control them, including with pesticides.…

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 Emerging Tick-Borne Illnesses: Not Just Lyme Disease Part 1

Tick-borne disease surveillance studies have shown increasing prevalence, transmission, and disease burden over the last decade. Tick-borne illnesses remain a public health threat and the true incidence remains unknown and is thought to be underrepresented. Although Lyme Disease is the most frequently reported tick-borne disease in the United States, the incidence of four other tick-borne diseases is noted to be increasing in the United States:

Articles of Interest

Fact or myth? Ticks can drop out of trees like paratroopers.

Along with mosquitos and flies, ticks are among our most disliked arachnids. However, their infamy comes with a lot of myths, and with tick season in full swing, it’s important to straighten out a few misconceptions.

Dangerous Ticks

Residents of the Northeast and the Midwest know that ticks can carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. What most don’t know is that the same family of black-legged ticks can also cause other diseases that are even more dangerous.

Emerging Tick-Borne Illnesses: Not Just Lyme Disease Part 2 Anaplasmosis

Rash is present in less than 10% of patients. Fever occurs in 92-100% of recognized cases of anaplasmosis along with other non-specific flu-like symptoms...

Emerging Tick-Borne Illnesses: Not Just Lyme Disease Part 3 Ehrlichiosis

Symptoms typically appear 5-14 days after bite of an infected tick. Rash is present more often than Anaplasmosis.

Emerging Tick-Borne Illnesses: Not Just Lyme Disease Part 4 RMSF

Begin on the ankles, wrists, and forearms and subsequently spreads to the palms, soles, arms, legs, and trunk. Typically spares the face.

Emerging Tick-Borne Illnesses: Not Just Lyme Disease Part 5 Babesiosis

Symptoms typically appear 1-4 weeks after bite of an infected tick. Rash is not a common occurrence unlike other tick-borne illnesses. If present, it should raise the suspicion for co-infection with Lyme disease.

Emerging Tickborne Illnesses: Beyond Lyme Disease

Tickborne diseases in the United States are a significant public health problem, and in the past 50 years scientists have detected at least a dozen new such infections.

Forget Ebola, Sars and Zika: ticks are the next global health threat

Ticks carry a wide array of pathogens – and environmental changes mean they are spreading.

Lyme Disease Isn't The Only Tick Borne Illness You Need to Worry About

When it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal, conditions.

Lyme Isn't the Only Disease Ticks are Spreading This Summer

At some point along its manifest destiny tour, Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged, or deer tick, seems to have picked up POW. Maybe it was in a skunk burrow or a badger den—historically, POW is carried around by a different kind of tick that prefers members of the weasel family.

More Ticked Off - The Growing Threat of Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases

The range of ticks is expanding, more diseases spread by ticks are being identified, and new species are being introduced to the US by global trade and travel. What’s a person to do?

The Growing Global Battle against Blood-Sucking Ticks

Scientists have no shortage of ideas about how to stop tick-borne illnesses. What is holding them back?

Ticks spread plenty more for you to worry about beyond Lyme disease

When it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal, conditions.

With a Tick Boom, It’s Not Just Lyme Disease You Have to Fear

Everybody knows about Lyme disease. But experts say the Northern United States may be in for a bad tick season this summer, raising concerns about Lyme and other scary tick-borne diseases, including the Powassan virus, which causes encephalitis and can leave people with permanent neurological damage.

Resources

8 Tick-Borne Illnesses That Aren’t Lyme Disease

The more you know about tick-borne illnesses and where they’re most common, the more you can help your doctor parse your symptoms if necessary. Here are a few non-Lyme tick-borne illnesses you should keep on your radar.