Lyme Disease Has Been Found In Nine US National Parks

Lyme disease causes a near perpetual flu-like state with varying degrees of severity, so it is tragic when we hear about people becoming infected with this disease. However, it is nice to know that the ticks responsible for spreading Lyme disease only exist in the upper Midwestern and northeastern portions of the United States. Well, according to a recent study carried out by researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Park Service (NPS) Lyme disease is on the move to other states.

Researchers collected ticks from nine different national parks. What they found were not only the type of ticks that spread the disease, they were also infected with Lyme disease. This is the first study to confirm the existence of Lyme disease in regions farther south than traditionally thought.

However, researches did suspect the presence of Lyme carrying ticks because there have been a few reports of Lyme disease hospitalizations in the southeastern states. Since national parks are so highly populated with tourists during the year, the presence of dangerous disease spreading ticks may cause the disease to spread to normally unaffected areas of the United States. The National Park service is currently working to help protect tourists through prevention education.

If you have ever found a tick on your body, what did you do with it after you found it? How did you dispose of the tick?