John Evans
Vermont soars to top in Lyme infections
A potent combination of weather and humidity, mice and other small rodent populations, dense thickets of invasive barberry and overabundant deer populations all came together to create an environment for the blacklegged tick, which spreads the virus
Vermont in 2013 led the nation in Lyme disease infection rates, and Maine and New Hampshire ranked second and third. Yet in 2002, Vermont was not even mentioned in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control report ranking the top 12 states in the incidence of Lyme disease.
What has changed? It is the significant northward expansion of blacklegged “deer” ticks carrying Lyme disease into communities throughout northern New England.