News

Use this chart to learn more about preventing Tick Bites Read More »

Are there other ways to protect myself and my family? Read More »

Bartonella are bacteria that live inside cells; they can infect humans, mammals, and a wide range of wild animals. Not all Bartonella species cause disease in humans. Bartonella henselae causes an important emerging infection first reported in 1990 and described as a new species... Read More »

Ticks are tiny crawling bugs in the spider family that feed by sucking blood from animals. If the animal is carrying Lyme disease spirochetes, the tick sucks them up as it feeds and they multiply in the tick’s gut. The tick may then transfer them into the next animal it feeds on. Read More »

There are two kinds of ehrlichiosis, both of which are caused by tick-borne rickettsial parasites called Ehrlichia that infect different kinds of white blood cells. In HME (human monocytic ehrlichiosis), they infect monocytes. In HGE (human granulocytic ehrlichiosis), they infect... Read More »

Babesiosis is an infection caused by a malaria-like parasite, also called a “piroplasm,” that infects red blood cells. Babesia microti is believed to be the most common piroplasm infecting humans, but scientists have identified over twenty piroplasms carried by ticks. Read More »

Besides the diseases described above, ticks in different geographic areas may be infected with one or more of the following: Colorado tick fever virus; Mycoplasmas; Powassan encephalitis virus; Q Fever; Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia); tickborne relapsing fever... Read More »

Chart showing types of ticks, their physical structure and the types of diseases they carry Read More »

Scientists recognize more than a dozen tickborne diseases in the United States and new ones are still being discovered. One tick may carry more than one disease, so sometimes people get more than one co-infection from the bite of a single tick. Read More »