Want to know why lyme cases are so much worse in the northeast U.S. than in the southeast U.S.? Look to lizards, not ticks. ScienceMagArchives
Lyme disease is one of the most devastating tick-borne infections in the United States, affecting more than 300,000 people each year. It's also one of the most mysterious: The creature that spreads it—the black-legged tick—lives throughout the country. Yet the northeastern United States is home to far more cases than anywhere else. Now, researchers have identified an unexpected reason: lizards.
The north-south divide in Lyme cases is a fairly sharp line right along the border of Virginia and North Carolina. Researchers have hypothesized that disparity in cases stems from ticks feeding on different hosts in the two regions. The stark difference seems to be tied to one host in particular. In the northeast, black-legged ticks latch onto small mammals like the white-footed mouse, which are notorious for transmitting the Lyme disease bacteria to the bugs. But in the south, the ticks prefer to feed on lizards, particularly skinks. These sleek, smooth-scaled reptiles often live in leaves and twigs that have fallen on the ground—so-called leaf litter—and are particularly poor transmitters of the Lyme pathogens.
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