CDC: 2600% Increase in Tick-Borne Babesiosis Infections in Wisconsin

"It is not just a bad summer for ticks — it has been a bad decade for the spread of tick-borne infections. New surveillance from the CDC reports rapid expansion and increase in cases of babesiosis, a sometimes life-threatening disease, in Wisconsin.

The CDC compiled the new report from surveillance conducted every three years during the period between 2001 through 2015. During that time, electronic surveillance came online to provide faster, more thorough, case reports. While a boost in case counts as monitoring methods improve is sometimes due to under-reporting, the CDC says the increase in Wisconsin is due to an actual uptick in cases — not just better reporting.

The black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis transmits the Babesiosis bacteria. This is the same tick that spreads Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and recently the more immediately deadly Powassan virus."

Cynthia Wallentine reports for Invisiverse July 6, 2017.