“These findings highlight the growing risk of human infection with tick-associated diseases throughout the state and the importance of taking precautionary measures to avoid tick bites”, CAES Director Theodore Andreadis said in the release.
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Ticks bite year-round, but July and August are the riskiest months, Brown said. Also, the advance of Lyme disorder situations is because of the indisputable fact that the clicks are heading around regions that are until now 100% free…
While there haven’t been any reported cases of Lyme disease locally so far this year, the topic has been a hot one at public health units. It is al due to these little creepy crawlies that, more and more people each year seem to be developing Lyme disease without even knowing how they even managed to come across these little fellows.
The research – compiled with the help of scientists at the New York Department of Health and the State University of New York at Albany – showed that ticks consistently migrate from south to north in short intervals.
Blacklegged ticks have expanded to new areas of the Northeastern United States by migration, according to a study by University of Pennsylvania researchers. The study was led by Dr. Camilo E. Khatchikian, a postdoctoral researcher in Penn’s Department of Biology in the School of Arts & Sciences and a member of the lab of Dustin Brisson. Last year, more than 900 people were diagnosed with it in Rhode Island. Second hypothesis is the populations have increased because of ticks moving in from other places.
The American Dog tick was once thought to be the region’s most abundant tick, but the deer tick population has increased recently, and can be threatening to both pets and their owners.
“People didn’t know where they were coming from”, Khatchikian says. Telford says it’s not surprising that the incidence rates of Lyme disease mirror the deer population.
When they become separated from the birds, they may look to attach themselves to humans as a new feeding source. It is well known that birds can carry ticks over long distances, sometimes up to a hundred miles or more.
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Khatchikian and his colleagues hope to continue their research to better understand what factors – whether climate change or land use trends – influence tick migration patterns. “But when you start thinking about how to control and prevent infections, it matters to know how easily the vectors of the disease are moving”.
