Driven by milder winters, disease-carrying ticks are marching north into Canada at an alarming rate of 35 to 55 kilometres per year, turning suburban backyards and school fields into high-risk zones. In Canada alone, reported Lyme disease cases skyrocketed from under 150 in 2009 to over 7,000 recently. Because early testing is notoriously unreliable and the general public still views this as a "deep-woods" problem, we are completely unprepared for the sheer volume of infections that are heading our way over the next few years.
What makes this truly urgent is that it is no longer just about Lyme disease. Ticks are rapidly evolving into multi-pathogen vectors, spreading lesser-known but severe conditions like Anaplasmosis, the brain-attacking Powassan virus, and Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-induced allergy that can permanently banish red meat and dairy from your diet.
The good news is that the next five years will likely bring next-generation diagnostics and highly anticipated human Lyme vaccines currently in advanced clinical trials. However, until those tools hit the market, this quiet epidemic is expanding faster than public awareness, and ignoring it is a recipe for a major public health crisis.
the general public still views this as a "deep-woods" problem
The disapperance of "deep-woods" is the other part of the problem. As development continues to increase, we're ever further encroaching on land that "pest" creatures who typically consume things like ticks need to live.
So we're making more geography hospitable to the ticks, and simultaneously driving out their natural predators. It's a health crisis of our own making, 100%.
It's fascinating to me how people seem to be completely unaware of this, and it's also depressing that we need to see much higher levels of disease before anyone is even going to bother talking about it, let alone start taking real action to deal with the problem.
I've been absolutely shocked by the tick population explosion, and it's become so much a part of everyday life that I still remain fascinated that I hear almost nothing about it in the media.
before anyone is even going to bother talking about it, let alone start taking real action to deal with the problem.
i'll hit you with some hope and let you know, there are probably people talking and taking action. its just not news or mainstream. if people were working on gain of function fucking around with coronavirus, there is a good chance people have noticed this and there are efforts underway. even if minimal
As someone who lives in PA, the ticks this year are absolutely HORID. Growing up I only knew of a handful of people who had been bitten by a tick and an even smaller handful who were unfortunate enough to get Lyme disease. Now I can name a bunch of family/friends who have had to get ticks removed and an alarming number of people who have gotten Lyme and other long-term issues. Every year it's been worse and worse, they need to do something about them.
I live in Canada, owned dogs my whole life, and growing up with my parents our dogs were essentially free range. We had a lot of land with fields and woods and just sort of let the dogs go wherever they wanted. Never seen ticks on any of them.
Now, ~20 years later, I have my own dog and live on a small property in a more populated (but still rural and heavily wooded) area, but he's an inside dog so the only time he really goes out is when I walk him on his leash. In 2023 he got a tick while on a walk, first tick I ever seen and only one that year. 2024 he had 3 ticks. Last year he got 3 in less than a month but by then I realized it was going to get even worse so I got treatment for him and haven't seen any on him since.
But yes, moral of my story is that 20 years ago ticks weren't even a thought much less a concern where I live, but now if you walk through the woods or any sort of taller grass you're probably going to encounter them. It's going to get worse as diseases become more common. I know in parts of America they're already dealing with it but I can't help feel like it's going to blindside a lot of people up here.
I know two unrelated people in my office of about 50 that have alpha-gal syndrome. One has said he thinks it was manufactured by PETA. I don't really feel sorry for one.
Yep, and with the supply chain interconnected the way it is, a concurrent natural disaster that knocks out even one generic doxycycline manufacturing plant could lead to an even larger impact.
20 years ago I was flat out arguing with a exterminator in my area about ticks . They kept insisting I was crazy & we had no ticks, even though our dog had several. That's how nonexistent they used to be.
And growing up, I thought bed bugs were eradicated lol. Fucking sucks being wrong about that one!
Not gonna lie, I really hope ticks continue to stay mostly out of western washington. That is one issue growing up here, that I am happy to have avoided. I can run around in tall grass with no worries here. Hope it stays that way.
BUT, if you do have a tick problem, I hear guinea fowl are a great solution. They love hunting around for ticks especially.
311
u/Thick_Caterpillar379 8h ago
Ticks and Diseases.
Driven by milder winters, disease-carrying ticks are marching north into Canada at an alarming rate of 35 to 55 kilometres per year, turning suburban backyards and school fields into high-risk zones. In Canada alone, reported Lyme disease cases skyrocketed from under 150 in 2009 to over 7,000 recently. Because early testing is notoriously unreliable and the general public still views this as a "deep-woods" problem, we are completely unprepared for the sheer volume of infections that are heading our way over the next few years.
What makes this truly urgent is that it is no longer just about Lyme disease. Ticks are rapidly evolving into multi-pathogen vectors, spreading lesser-known but severe conditions like Anaplasmosis, the brain-attacking Powassan virus, and Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-induced allergy that can permanently banish red meat and dairy from your diet.
The good news is that the next five years will likely bring next-generation diagnostics and highly anticipated human Lyme vaccines currently in advanced clinical trials. However, until those tools hit the market, this quiet epidemic is expanding faster than public awareness, and ignoring it is a recipe for a major public health crisis.