Ticks Are Spreading in the US—and Taking New Diseases With Them

A rare disease that is so rare in the United States that it is only recognized in about 40 people each year has taken the life of a person in Maine. Within 15 minutes of being bitten, ticks can transmit the cause of the virus. One out of 10 people who develop severe symptoms die of brain inflammation, and half of those who recover experience long-term problems with memory, balance, and speech.

One death in a country of hundreds of millions can feel like a statistical blip. The person in Maine is a warning. There are other tick-borne diseases that are not known to the public or health care. That's a problem because research shows that tick species are expanding into new areas and carrying more pathogens as they move. The US has not set up a nationwide monitoring system that could identify where tick species exist, how they are traveling, and what diseases they carry.

As public health funding changes, the country depends on a patchwork of local detection efforts. The US relies on individuals to take actions to keep themselves safe despite the fact that political jurisdictions take on the task of preventing diseases caused by mosquitoes.

We don't have a national tick-monitoring network, though people have been screaming for one for years, says Richard Ostfeld, a disease ecologist, tick expert, and senior scientist at the independent Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in New York. If you know where the ticks and tick-borne pathogens are, you can use that information to launch campaigns of education and awareness.

ticks are complex. The tiny arachnids are parasites because they only survive by taking blood from other animals. They have a complicated life cycle that involves three different versions of slurping up a meal, dropping off for a nap, and metamorphosing into a new form. The pathogens they carry are regionalized because their species is limited to specific areas.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 different illnesses are caused by ticks and insects, which tripled between 2004 and 2016 At least 75 percent of the rise was attributed to ticks.

The amount of disease transmitted to humans by tick-borne diseases is the most important in the continental US.