University of South Carolina

Ticks Carrying Lyme Disease Reach Northeast-Level Infection Rates in Western North Carolina Residential Yards

- Nearly 40% of adult blacklegged ticks collected from residential yards in Biltmore Forest, North Carolina, tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. - The infection rate is comparable to parts of the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest where Lyme disease is long established, signaling a southward expansion of the tick vector. - Researchers also detected Borrelia miyamotoi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, possibly the farthest south these pathogens have been identified in blacklegged tick populations. - A diagnostic gap persists because many regional clinicians were trained when Lyme disease was considered absent from North Carolina, delaying timely diagnosis and treatment.