As soon as the summers arrived in New England, the late summer drought eliminated all the ticks, but they also started to re-appear as soon as the spring came.
Ticks that do not cause Lyme disease like Dog ticks have also increased in this spring season in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
As the pandemic is under control and the government easing the norms, people are stepping out of their houses, and these ticks are getting attached to them and their pets.
The manager of the environmental surveillance program from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture said that since the COVID came, people are staying a lot more outdoors. This pure relationship of nature and human beings is revealed. So, now the chances for interaction with ticks are higher for humans.
As the drought was spread all over New England, there were fewer insects and led to lesser insect bites.
According to the state data, the Lyme disease cases abruptly decreased in half the previous year. The incidence of Lyme disease went from 2,167 in 2019 to 1,115 in 2020. Also, during the pandemic, the people decreased going to hospitals for this disease.
But now, as soon as the spring came, the incidence of ticks has well increased, and it is making people seek emergency care more frequently. Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Maine saw more than 176 cases of tick-related emergency medical care this year by the end of the previous week, that is till May 16. Last year only around 91 tick-related emergency cases were seen at this time.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention collected data and said that this year more than 100 cases of tick bite emergency had been recorded from January to May. Moreover, surveys are being conducted to get a picture of how many people spend more time outdoors. CDC asks them to wear light-colored clothes and cover their arms and legs altogether to avoid biting the ticks.
