More than half of Minnesota counties now have tick infestations

Disease-bearing black-legged ticks have spread across the country, including a fivefold increase in the number of counties in Minnesota reporting established tick populations. That compares to a 45 percent increase in the number of counties nationally reporting infestations.

“It’s important for Minnesotans to know the area where the black-legged ticks … are found has been expanded,” said Dave Neitzel, a supervisor of tick-borne disease studies at the Minnesota Department of Health. Neitzel commented Thursday on the federal study.

Black-legged ticks, formerly called deer ticks, carry disease, most notably Lyme, which is marked by a variety of symptoms from fatigue and fever to muscle aches. A bull’s-eye rash at the spot of the bite is often the indicator of transmission.

http://www.startribune.com/more-than-half-of-minnesota-counties-now-have-tick-infestations/366149701/