The CDC study shares county maps of 7 diseases spread by Blacklegged mites

As the surveillance of ticks and the germs that cause them spreads, so will Americans’ awareness of where ticks are most at risk. Specialists from the Vector Infectious Diseases Unit of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected new observational data and provided state-of-the-art maps of both blacklegs at the county level.ixodes scapularis), shown here, are common and they are found in patients with seven different disease-causing microbes or pathogenic microbes. (Photo by Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org)

As the surveillance of ticks and the germs that cause them spreads, so will Americans’ awareness of where ticks are most at risk.

“The more we look for mites and tick-borne pathogens, the more we find and the more information we get to help protect people from the spread of ticks.” – says Eric Foster, MS, BCE., a medical entomologist in the Vector Infectious Diseases Unit of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Foster and his CDC colleagues compiled the observations into a new report published May 18 in the American Society of Entomology. Journal of Medical Entomology. The report provides modern district maps of areas where blackleg mites are common and where they are infected with seven different disease-causing microbes or pathogenic microbes.

Of all the diseases transmitted to humans by insects and related arthropods, ticks account for more than 75% of all reported infections each year. The maps provided in the new CDC study are important to raise public and health awareness about tick-borne diseases in communities and the signs and symptoms that patients should look for. This is made possible by the CDC’s National Tick and Tick Pathogen Control Program, which began in 2018.

Previously, knowledge about the prevalence of ticks and tick-borne pathogens was limited to data shared with local health facilities or academic research.

“Collection efforts were not standardized, and data was often lost because there was no national repository for such information,” Foster said.

Since 2018, the CDC has created a nationwide program that brings together all the data to guide local agencies and academic partners in tick control and pathogen testing.

“This effort fills the gaps in our knowledge by pointing out the presence of mites and tick-borne pathogens, which have previously been little reported or where they occur,” Foster says.

Pathogen a disease states counties Borrelia burgdorferi Lyme disease 30 * 476 borrelia miyamotoi Severe tick relapsing fever 25 * 271 Anaplasma phagocytophilum anaplasmosis 24 * 291 babesia microti babesiosis 17 154 povassan virus Powassan virus disease 6 55 Borrelia mayonii Lyme disease 4 12 Ehrlichia muris euclarensis Ehrlichiosis two 11

* All cover the District of Columbia

In all cases, the distribution of pathogenic microorganisms is much narrower than the known range of blackleg mites that spread them. However, Foster and his colleagues warn that the real pathogens may be much broader than they have been identified.

“These maps show county-level records of ticks looking for hosts that have been infected with tick-borne pathogens using strict laboratory standards,” Foster said.

In areas where pathogenic microorganisms have not been identified, “this does not mean that there are no tick-borne pathogens.

The National Tick Control Program is a regular effort and the CDC hopes to continue updating the maps to provide current and accurate information to the public and healthcare professionals.

Thus, while the control and detection of tick-borne pathogens is improving, this new CDC study shows where else progress needs to be made. And where there are ticks, public awareness is very important.

“It’s important for the community to understand that any exposure to ticks can be dangerous, and that preventing tick bites is the best way to reduce that risk,” Foster said. “Anyone who has symptoms of a tick bite should see a doctor and report the effects of the tick immediately.”

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