Expansion of the blacklegged and other tick populations across Canada over the last few years mean an increased risk of diseases like Lyme disease. It is wise to do a full body tick check on ourselves and our pets when we come in from the outdoors.
(Shutterstock)
Is our changing climate making regions of the US more suitable for ticks and mosquitoes that spread diseases? Or is the climate changing human physiology making us more vulnerable?
The female longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, crawling on a leaf.
Jim Occi, Rutgers Center for Vector Biology
There is a new type of tick spreading in New Jersey, and it doesn’t need a male to reproduce. It’s known to spread disease and is proving
difficult to eradicate.
A female deer tick on a piece of straw.
Steve Ellingson/Shutterstock.com
In Australia, only three infectious diseases are known to be transmitted from ticks to humans: Queensland tick typhus; Flinders Island Spotted Fever; and Q fever.
An engorged female tick on the forehead of a dog. To get this big, they need to suck blood for about four days. While this is happening, the tick is injecting neurotoxins into the bloodstream.
Rob Webster
Tick paralysis affect 10,000 dogs each year in eastern Australia, and the treatment can be very expensive. Fortunately, a new drug available is available.
Ixodus ricinus tick, which spreads Lyme disease in Europe.
Richard Bartz
A government investigation into whether Lyme disease exists in Australia and how to treat it has ended without being able to resolve the issues. But there is a plausible explanation for why people here…
Tick bite poses a potentially serious health risk in itself but sometimes the way people try to remove ticks just makes things worse. This is because urban myths and conflicted advice from local and overseas…
Vector-borne diseases are responsible for 17% of all infectious diseases.
dr_relling/Flickr
The term “vector-borne” refers to the way diseases are passed on from one person to another. Instead of through the air or directly by human contact, these pathogens need to hitch a ride for transmission…