Tick tally time: send ticks for identification to help track disease risk in state

Commentary: The Washington State Department of Health is conducting a study looking at the range and distribution of tick species in the state and the potential disease risks they pose. This is an excellent initiative which should be done on a regular basis throughout the United States by health departments to track the spread of emerging tick-borne diseases. When such studies were done in NY and Vermont in the past few years, it showed a rapid rise in the incidence of not only Lyme disease, but associated tick-borne diseases, such as Anaplasma, Babesia, the relapsing fever borrelia, Borrelia miyamotoi, and the Powassan virus.

Tick tally time: send ticks for identification to help track disease risk in state, Washington State Department of Health