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. 2022 Aug 26;226(3):370-373.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac249.

Range Expansion of Native and Invasive Ticks: A Looming Public Health Threat

Goudarz Molaei  1   2 , Lars M Eisen  3 , Keith J Price  4 , Rebecca J Eisen  3
Affiliations

Range Expansion of Native and Invasive Ticks: A Looming Public Health Threat

Goudarz Molaei et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Native and invasive tick species pose a serious public health concern in the United States. Range expansion of several medically important tick species has resulted in an increasing number of communities at risk for exposure to ticks and tick-borne pathogens.

Keywords: invasion; public health; range expansion; tick; tickborne pathogens.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. The authors: No reported conflicts of interest.

All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Generalized distributions of human-biting tick species with expanding ranges in the eastern United States (US) in recent decades. Following range expansion in recent decades, the blacklegged tick (top right) can now be found throughout the eastern US. The ranges of the lone star tick (top left) and the Gulf Coast tick (bottom left) are currently expanding northward in the eastern US. The invasive Asian longhorned tick (bottom right) appears to be spreading north, west, and south after its discovery in New Jersey in 2017. Because surveillance data are insufficient to outline a generalized tick distribution, dots are used to indicate counties with collection records for this species (data kindly provided by the US Department of Agriculture). Tick images were provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (see https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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