Scientists in New York are predicting an increase in the number of Lyme disease cases. The predictions are based on a warm winter, acorn crops and the population of mice.
What is Lyme disease?
Ticks pick up the bacteria that causes Lyme disease when they bite mice or deer that are infected with Lyme disease. In turn, ticks bite people and infect them with Lyme disease.
Symptoms of Lyme disease begin within the first week of being bit. They are similar to flu symptoms: body aches, itching, chills, fever, headache and muscle pain. Some people also get a bull’s eye rash around the tick bite.
If left untreated, Lyme disease can spread to the brain, heart and joints.
What do acorns and mice have to do with illness?
Acorn crops vary from year-to-year, with boom-and-bust cycles influencing the winter survival and breeding success of white-footed mice.
According to a press release from Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, “these small mammals pack a one-two punch: they are preferred hosts for black-legged ticks and they are very effective at transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.”
“We had a boom in acorns, followed by a boom in mice. And now, on the heels of one of the smallest acorn crops we’ve ever seen, the mouse population is crashing,” Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. Ostfeld explains.
Adding, “This spring, there will be a lot of infected black-legged ticks in our forests looking for a blood meal. And instead of finding a white-footed mouse, they are going to find other mammals—like us.”
What precautions should be taken?
In an effort to keep ticks away, people should wear long sleeves and pants, wear bug spray and check their body for ticks after any outside experience.
Ostfeld says the Northeastern states will be impacted the most, but everyone should be more aware of ticks this season, he says.
