United States: A mere tick is capable of tackling giant diseases such as Lyme disease. Those who are involved in adventure activities such as those operating in the regions which are mountainous or who hike and camp are quite well-aware of the diabolical consequences that are associated with a tick bite.
More about the disease
They are mainly found throughout heavily forested regions in the country; however, the risk is slightly higher in the northeast; moreover, both Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic states still have cases of tick-borne diseases in every state in the country, as USA Today reported.
In 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC_ reported that more cases of Lyme disease were detected in the country, with a total of 62,551 cases reported in a single year. Yearly, infections were relatively constant and stood at around thirty three thousands in the previous decade.
Tick-borne illness, Lyme disease, is currently recognized as the most prevalent illness that people can get through tick bites, according to the CDC.
States with higher cases of Lyme infection
Lyme disease infections were nearly 63,000 in 2022. However, the CDC concludes that, in reality, there could be ten times more infected people who suffer from this not easily diagnosable disease.
Some states are recording much higher incidences of infections than other states. The following states have the highest infection rates of Lyme:
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
As a result of changes in climate growth and increased temperatures, the number of ticks has risen, and with it, they occupied new territories and increased the number of people infected with tick-borne bacteria and diseases.
As per the forecast, the total number of annual cases is likely to go up, but there is no understanding of how fast exactly, as USA Today reported.
According to he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Deer ticks are mostly active when temperatures are above 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and they thrive in areas with at least 85% humidity,” and, “Thus, warming temperatures associated with climate change are projected to increase the range of suitable tick habitat.”
Stats of the Rising Infection Cases in the US States
Three states with the highest reported rate of Lyme disease in the year 2022 were Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine. Rhode Island saw two hundred and twelve cases per hundred thousand people, the highest rate in the country at the time.
The state of Vermont also reported 204 cases per 100 thousand residents, and Maine – 194.7 cases per 100,000, as per CDC.
Out of the ten most impacted counties, 7 of them occurred in Pennsylvania between the period of 2016 to 2019. According to USAFacts, a nonprofit organization that focuses on US government data, in the same year, Pennsylvania constituted almost 30 percent of all Lyme disease reports, while New Jersey had 12 percent of all cases.