Ticks are spreading Lyme disease across America, but we can beat them. Here’s how.

Key Points:

• Tick populations and their geographic range are expanding in the US, increasing the risk of diseases like Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-induced allergy to meat, with tick-bite emergency room visits rising sharply this year.
• Ticks have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to evade detection and transmit pathogens, making infections hard to identify early; their spread is influenced by factors including climate change, deer population growth, and land development.
• Promising advances include a Lyme disease vaccine by Pfizer showing over 70% efficacy in Phase 3 trials, monoclonal antibody treatments entering clinical trials, and ongoing research toward a universal anti-tick vaccine targeting tick saliva proteins.
• Improved diagnostic tools for Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome are reducing the time to diagnosis, but public health efforts face challenges from vaccine skepticism and potential cuts to federal science funding.
• Preventive measures such as using EPA-approved repellents, avoiding tick habitats, checking for ticks after outdoor activities, treating clothes with permethrin, and early medical consultation remain crucial to reduce infection risk until new vaccines and treatments become widely available.