Warmer winters mean ticks are out and about even during colder weather. While most bugs die in the winter, ticks are relatively impervious to the freezing temperatures — and as the climate warms, they are becoming increasingly active in winter months, experts warn.
Deer tick on a green leaf.
While tick bites are expected to decline as freezing temperatures hit, climate change is making matters worse, and ticks will remain active in many more areas the year round.
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Winters used to be more consistently cold, said Rafal Tokarz, an epidemiologist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “Now we have stretches of abnormally warm weather and they come out more frequently,” he said. At the same time, with nicer winter days, people go out more for riding their horses and walking with their dogs . "The ticks will be there," Tokarz said. "This contributes to the number of cases of Lyme in the wintertime.”
In fact, emergency room visits for tick bites, which had been declining since the summer peak, are rising in some parts of the United States, especially in the Northeast, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While tick bites are expected to decline as freezing temperatures hit, climate change is making matters worse. The government has released the new National Climate Assessment report with the prediction that most areas of the U.S. will get warmer. “So the risk of an adult tick finding us in the winter will get higher,” said Richard Ostfeld, a tick expert at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York.
Veterinarians and health officials are warning about a possible increase in cases of Lyme disease this year because of the spread of ticks into formerly tick-free areas."
Veterinarians and health officials are warning about a possible increase in cases of Lyme disease this year because of the spread of ticks into formerly tick-free areas.
In Ohio, a Lyme-disease-carrying species of tick rarely encountered before 2010 is increasingly making itself at home according to health authorities. The population of a black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick is thought to be migrating from the east, and so far, the ticks have been found in at least 26 Ohio counties.
Ohio has recorded 36 cases of Lyme disease in humans so far this year following a total of 53 cases in the state last year, and it is though that more will be recorded because of the increase in the number of ticks.
Although Lyme disease in horses is quite common for animals living in high-risk areas, equine Lyme disease is not easy to identify, since fewer than 10% of horses show any symptoms.
Symptoms vary from horse to horse, but an equine with Lyme disease may show an unexplained reluctance to move, as if sore all over, and/or a transitory lameness that cannot be ascribed to any specific cause. Joint swelling may also be apparent in some horses.
There is a striking variance in the symptoms suffered by individual horses infected with Lyme disease, with some able to tolerate infection without showing signs of illness, and others becoming severely ill. Poor recognition of the infection in horses means that there is little available research material to guide veterinarians.
Horses with Lyme disease may experience problems with multiple organ systems, leading to both acute problems and possible permanent damage and chronic health issues, especially where the infection remains untreated. Lyme disease complications in horses can include liver damage and hepatitis, or severe neurological injury.
Press release by CDC. Edited