From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
A study by New Quest Diagnostics has found that all 50 states in the union, including the District of Columbia, have had reports of Lyme disease, a debilitating illness commonly contracted from tick bites.
According to the study, Lyme disease has mainly been confined to the northeast United States over the years but other areas are seeing spikes in reported cases, particularly in California and Florida. The study by New Quest is a result of seven years of analyzing “de-identified” laboratory test results.
“Lyme disease is a bigger risk to more people in the United States than ever before,” said Harvey W. Kaufman, M.D., senior medical director for Quest Diagnostics and head of the company’s Health Trends research program. “Our data show that positive results for Lyme are both increasing in number and occurring in geographic areas not historically associated with the disease.”
“We hypothesize that these significant rates of increase may reinforce other research suggesting changing climate conditions that allow ticks to live longer and in more regions may factor into disease risk.”
Lyme disease can be contracted from deer ticks and bites are often identified by a bullseye-like mark on the skin. Symptoms afterwards include nerve pain, joint aches, flu-like conditions, heart palpitations, and many others, according to the CDC.
The full report by New Quest can be seen here.