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. 2015 Aug;21(8):1455-7.
doi: 10.3201/eid2108.141878.

Geographic Distribution and Expansion of Human Lyme Disease, United States

Kiersten J Kugeler, Grace M Farley, Joseph D Forrester, Paul S Mead

Geographic Distribution and Expansion of Human Lyme Disease, United States

Kiersten J Kugeler et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 Aug.

Abstract

Lyme disease occurs in specific geographic regions of the United States. We present a method for defining high-risk counties based on observed versus expected number of reported human Lyme disease cases. Applying this method to successive periods shows substantial geographic expansion of counties at high risk for Lyme disease.

Keywords: Borrelia burgdorferi; Lyme disease; United States; bacteria; epidemiology; surveillance; tickborne; vector-borne infections; zoonoses.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
United States counties with high incidence of Lyme disease by the period when they first met the designated high-incidence criteria, 1993–2012. High-incidence counties were defined as those within a spatial cluster of elevated incidence and those with >2 times the number of reported Lyme disease cases as were expected (based on the population at risk).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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