Lyme Disease Spreading? Number of US Cases on the Rise

The number of Lyme disease cases in the United States is on the rise and ticks responsible for the disease may be spreading due to global warming. According to the statistics gathered from the CDC, confirmed Lyme disease cases in the country continue to rise every year.

"In 1995, there were 11,700 confirmed cases. In 2013, there were 27,203 confirmed cases, as well as another 9,104 probable cases. Ninety-five percent of reported cases in 2013 came from 14 states-located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Upper Midwest. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease reported in the United States," reports Scientific American.

"Climate change is increasing not only the range in which Lyme disease-carrying ticks can survive-ticks are moving into warming Canada and other northern locations-but the amount of time in which ticks can feed," according to a recent study published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

Climate warming may be the cause for the disease-carrying ticks to move around. According to the latest scientific research curated by Huffington Post, the carriers are moving towards West US, including North Dakota, Illinois, and Indiana, and have been expanding in 42 counties in California. Lyme disease has also affected Canada where health officials warned the public that tick invasion continues to increase as these creatures may survive some mild winters.

The ticks have also set foot in the continent Europe. The warm temperatures allowed the ticks to invade Sweden, UK, and Norway. These are now found in Italy and Czech Republic as well.

Global warming induced milder winters and warmer summers in Russia, Hungary, and Sweden, allowing the increasing cases of tick-borne diseases.

Lyme disease is an incurable bacterial infection. According to WebMD, only deer ticks carry the B. burgdorferi bacteria that cause infection and not wood or dog ticks. Lyme disease can cause arthritis and problems in the heart, brain, and nerves.

In its earlier stage, those infected with Lyme disease may manifest the symptoms similar to flu such as chills, fever, inflamed lymph nodes, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, joint pain, and stiff neck. A telltale rash from the tick bite may also occur. In its advanced stage, knee arthritis and nerve problems may be experienced by the infected person.

The disease is transmitted through the bite of the tick. Animals that carry these insects include horses, chipmunks, squirrels, deer, raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, weasels, moles, and shrews.