Tracking Lyme disease

Mapof Lyme disease risk in the U.S.

For three years, more than 80 tick hunters combedsites throughout much of the U.S. with corduroy cloths to trap the insects. They were on the lookout for the black legged tick Ixodes scapularis. Itis the main carrier of the bacteria that causeLyme disease.

This new map reflects their findings and pinpoints areas of the Eastern United States where humans have the highest risk of contracting Lyme disease.

So far in Canada, Lyme disease has become established in parts of southern and southeastern Quebec, southern and eastern Ontario, southeastern Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as well as much of southern British Columbia.

Source:American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene