The spread of tickborne diseases to humans, including Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, has been increasing in Vermont and many other northern states. While reports of Lyme disease in Vermont used to be rare in the early 1990s, it is now common to see over 400 confirmed cases reported in a year. Anaplasmosis has become an increasingly common tickborne disease in Vermont as well. "Be Tick Smart" and learn about tickborne diseases in Vermont and how to prevent tick bites.
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There are several types of ticks found in Vermont that can carry these diseases:
Warmer weather is one of several factors that have contributed to the spread of ticks in Vermont and the rise in tickborne diseases. Warmer winters make it easier for ticks to survive here year-round, while a longer warm season increases the length of time that ticks are active each year. Other factors contributing to an increase in tickborne diseases include better diagnosis and reporting by physicians, changes in forest cover, and changes in deer and small mammal populations that serve as hosts for tickborne diseases.
In areas where tickborne diseases are present, the likelihood of a person getting a tickborne disease depends on three factors:
- How many ticks are in the area
- How many of those ticks are infected with the pathogen
- How often people come into contact with those ticks.
To a varying degree, climate change can affect all three of these factors:
- Ticks can only live in areas where the climate is suitable for them, having the right temperature and the right amount of moisture. Warming temperatures due to climate change, especially during the winter months, may make Vermont more hospitable to blacklegged ticks. Warmer winters can also help the survival of important hosts for ticks, like white-footed mice. This could result in tick populations increasing in areas where they are already present, and the introduction of ticks to areas that were not previously infested, such as colder, northern areas and areas at higher elevations.
- Work done by our partners at Lyndon State College suggests that areas more densely populated with ticks in Vermont also tend to have higher rates of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) among these ticks. This suggests that in areas where blacklegged tick populations increase due to climate change, a greater proportion of these ticks may become infected with the bacteria.
- Ticks are typically not active at temperatures below freezing. Warming temperatures due to climate change mean more days when ticks are active and looking for blood meals, which means a greater risk of ticks biting people.
Read the technical report on Climate Change, Lyme Disease and Other Tickborne Diseases
There are four types of ticks that can transmit diseases that currently exist in Vermont: the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the woodchuck tick (Ixodes cookei), and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Nearly all (99%) of cases of tickborne diseases in Vermont are from blacklegged ticks, which are among the most commonly encountered ticks in the state. Learn about the different ticks found in Vermont
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The best way to combat climate effects on tickborne diseases is to remember to take precautions against tick bites. Learn how to Be Tick Smart and prevent tick bites, and what you should do if you are bitten by a tick.
- Monitor the latest information on human encounters with ticks in Vermont.
- Report your tick encounters on the Vermont Tick Tracker.