Lyme disease numbers are on the rise because the ticks that carry it are spreading into new regions. At the same time, milder winters are lengthening the active tick season and more people are living next to natural tick habitats.
It might feel odd to stop and think about the fact that Lyme disease didn’t get a lot of attention a decade or two ago. Now it does. So you may wonder: why?
The biggest answer is simply that there are more ticks. The blacklegged tick that carries Lyme disease has expanded its territory dramatically in the past few decades. Now you can find it in the Upper Midwest and even in Canada.
Part of this has to do with the changing climate. Winters have been running mild and it’s making it easier for ticks to survive when they wouldn’t have before. The larger base population then gets an early start on reproduction. Tick populations explode from there.
Meanwhile, people are moving to the suburbs next to forested land. That puts them in close proximity to deer and mice which carry ticks on them. The wildlife move through what are now suburban backyards, shake off a few ticks, and then the ticks reproduce.
More ticks, more people by tick habitats, more exposure—this all makes logical sense. But there is also the fact that we’re more aware of Lyme disease and we know how to test for it. So we’re getting better at counting it and reporting it as well.
This trend probably isn’t going anywhere. So it helps more than ever to take the right actions. Keep your lawn short and your landscaping in good shape so ticks don’t have places to hide. Check yourself, your kids, and pets for ticks before going inside because removing ticks can reduce your odds of catching tick-borne illness. Lyme disease takes 24 hours or more to transmit, in general.
If you're tired of watching tick season get worse every year, Mosquito Squad of Chicago can help. Mosquito Squad treats the brushy, shaded zones where disease-carrying ticks wait, helping protect your family with up to 90% reduction in pest activity on a recurring 21-day cycle.
