More ticks, more places

When I was a kid growing up in Colorado, I got a wicked case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever after my dad somehow used a match to entice a blood-bloated tick out of my scalp. So, I flinched when I read that a recent study has found tick populations are not only increasing in number, but also in reach. The data revealed the presence of at least three tick-borne diseases, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis, in every state in the country. Apparently all three can cause health complications and even death in humans and dogs, if untreated. The results were presented during the North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) in late January in Orlando.

Lisa Wogan