Scott Bauer/U.S. Department of Agriculture (CC BY 2.0)

Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

Ticks are a familiar nuisance around Wisconsin, but they also pose a growing health risk to the humans they feed on, exposing them to disease-causing pathogens. Deer ticks have spread across much of the state in recent decades, feeding on wildlife along with people and their pets. These ticks transmit Lyme disease, and the state is facing a persistently high rate of infection. Ticks spread other illnesses as well. Entomologists and public health researchers are investigating the relationship between ticks, their hosts and the surrounding environment, but continue to emphasize prevention as the best way to reduce infections.
 
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

Small Mammals And Birds Are Important Accomplices In Spreading Lyme Disease

Scott Gordon
WisContext
The creature primarily responsible for infecting people with the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is the black-legged tick, often called the deer tick. When it comes to the tick's life cycle, though, deer aren't the most important animals it encounters in Wisconsin.
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

Wisconsin's Annual Lyme Disease Forecast Is Not A Simple Matter

Scott Gordon
WisContext
As the weather warms and more people head outdoors, a complex interplay of factors, some of which scientists are still trying to understand, will determine how seriously Lyme disease will afflict Wisconsin in 2018.
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

The Confounding Geography Of Lyme Disease In The U.S.

Scott Gordon
WisContext
The Upper Midwest and the northeastern regions of the United States are increasingly a carpet of Lyme disease cases each summer and autumn. But the southeastern part of the country — a vast expanse of hot and humid territory and certainly hospitable to the ticks that carry Lyme-causing bacteria — gets off relatively easy.
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

What Does The Passenger Pigeon Have To Do With Lyme Disease?

Michelle Johnson
Wisconsin Public Radio
Though the passenger pigeon went extinct a century ago, could its absence have repercussions that are being felt in the 21st century?
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

Why The Invasive Longhorned Tick Has Potential To Reach Wisconsin

Mary Kate McCoy
Wisconsin Public Radio
An invasive tick species is swiftly making its way across the United States, the first to do so in about 50 years.
Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin
Series: Civic Science In Wisconsin

Encountering Backyard Bloodsuckers? The Tick App Tracks That

Will Cushman
WisContext
With peak tick season imminent in the upper Midwest, researchers are hopeful more people will download and use a free smartphone app that helps track and identify the tiny arachnids.