![]() However, they can adapt to other climates, and when their preferred habitat is fragmented, tick populations don’t go down. New Jersey and New York, which also consistently report high Lyme disease numbers, had nearly 5,900 and 2,018 cases last year, respectively.īlack-legged ticks love the humidity, shade, and cool and wet environments of forested areas, said Emily Struckhoff, a Penn State entomologist who studies tick-borne diseases and other illnesses.įorests also provide an abundance of hosts for ticks to feed on, including deer, mice, chipmunks, birds, raccoons, and sometimes people. In 2022, Pennsylvania reported 8,413 confirmed Lyme disease cases, a number that has increased almost every year for more than a decade. Black-legged ticks can also spread the Powassan virus, also called the deer tick virus, which attacks the central nervous system and can be fatal in extreme circumstances. The illness can cause flu-like symptoms and lead to more severe effects if left untreated. The black-legged tick, also called a deer tick, is Pennsylvania’s most common species, and it is the only one that transmits Lyme disease when it feeds. Pennsylvania had the highest incidence rate of Lyme disease nationwide in 11 of the past 12 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Because if you do one thing, you might increase the chance of something else, but thinking in terms of forest blocks, if your municipality has a huge section of forest, don’t develop that.” “There’s no easy solution,” said Suzy Yetter, an ecologist with ClearWater Conservancy, an environmental group. And because tick season is getting longer due to warmer temperatures year-round, residents statewide are more vulnerable to contracting Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The western and eastern parts of the state saw the most forest land lost, reporting a 2% decline, and accounted for more than half of the state’s Lyme disease cases in 2022.Įnvironmental experts think more elected leaders should consider how forest fragmentation creates other risks, especially before greenlighting projects that come before local governing boards. ![]() That’s down from 16.9 million in 2014, with nearly half of the loss due to residential and commercial development. ![]() The commonwealth had an estimated 16.6 million acres of forest land in 2019, according to the most recent data. ![]() When forests - where black-legged ticks thrive statewide - are fragmented to make room for roads, oil and gas sites, housing developments, or shopping centers, ticks have fewer available hosts and are more likely to bite humans. HOUSERVILLE - Pennsylvania leads the nation in Lyme disease cases, and the continued development of forested areas increases people’s risk of being bitten by the species of tick that transmits the illness. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. ![]()
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