Ticks carrying bacteria that can cause severe illness have been found farther south than ever before, researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other institutions said in a new report.
Blacklegged ticks carrying bacteria that cause anaplasmosis and hard tick relapsing fever were discovered during testing by tick researchers in North Carolina, as they sought to figure out whether another disease borne by ticks has become endemic outside its typical area.
Anaplasmosis, primarily spread to humans through infected blacklegged ticks, can cause symptoms such as fever and muscle aches.
If not treated, or sometimes even with treatment, more severe symptoms such as respiratory failure are possible, and some people have died….