5 Important Facts You Should Know About Ticks

As the weather warms, stories of ticks and the diseases they carry become more prevalent in the news, from stories of a coming "tickpocalypse" to an unforgettable photo from the Center for Disease Control in the United States comparing ticks to the size of the seeds on a poppy seed muffin. Should you be worried about ticks? Here are five important facts summarizing what you should know to protect yourself against ticks.

1. Ticks and tick-borne illnesess are on the rise.

In a recent report, the Center for Disease Control in the United States noted that in 2004, 27,000 people were diagnosed with diseases from mosquitos, ticks, and fleas. That number jumped to 96,000 diagnoses in 2016, more than tripling over the last twelve years. 60% of those diagnoses were from tick-borne diseases, and of the nine new pathogens identified in that time, seven were tick-borne.

The authors of the report note that warmer temperatures mean there are larger swaths of the country where ticks can survive and thrive. Efforts at suburban reforestation bring woods, and thus ticks, closer to where people live. More air travel means the little arachnids can be transported to new areas as well. A lack of new vaccines in the recent past also contributes to the rise in infections of tick-borne diseases.

2. Most cases of Lyme disease go undiagnosed.

There are an estimated 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the United States each year, but only 30,000 of those cases are reported to the CDC. Lyme disease can go easily undiagnosed because the symptoms tend to be highly varied and can depend on where the tick bite occurs. A telltale rash often forms at the sight of the bite but this rash can go unnoticed if hidden in a spot like under the hair or your scalp. The rash also fades after several days erasing the evidence if not caught early enough. Many tick-borne diseases are characterized early on by flu-like symptoms and then later by joint pain and eventual neurological problems.

In the United States, the CDC notes that 95% of cases of Lyme disease are reported...

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