The adult female Western black-legged tick (right) may transmit Lyme disease. Giampa said they were surprised by the finding. A four-year study, funded by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation and published in 2021, found ticks in vegetation near paths to beaches in Northern California, including Monterey County. Giampa also wants people to be aware that ticks could be lurking, not just in the forest, but also near the beach. It’s a steep step down from the top - Mendocino County, Sonoma County and Marin County, in that order, have the highest rates in the state with around 30 percent of the ticks carrying pathogens.īut Giampa said that 10 percent number is still really important - it’s not like there’s zero risk. Giampa said less than 10 percent of ticks carry pathogens in Monterey County, placing the county fourth in the state. According to the California Department of Public Health, Monterey County had six cases of confirmed Lyme disease between 20. Lyme disease isn’t too common around here. They identify anything they collect and test Western black-legged ticks - the ones that spread Lyme - for pathogens. “They literally sweep it across the grasses or the chaparral or anything that’s near a path because the idea is to tell people who are hiking what’s there,” said Giampa. Nymphs are especially efficient biters - they’re tiny so they’re harder to see and they can burrow in without getting detected.īiologists monitor ticks by taking a white flannel cloth out into the field. Ticks die shortly after mating and/or laying eggs. In the second year, larvae grow into nymphs, which start biting in the late winter or early spring of their final year of life - the same time that fully-grown adults are having their last meals. In the first year, eggs hatch and develop into larvae.
They are known vectors for the zoonotic spirochetal bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the pathogen responsible for causing Lyme disease. A western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus, clings to a plant. As they grow, they feed on animals, and sometimes they pick up pathogens (bacteria or other organisms that cause disease) from those animals.
Santa clara county lab tick lyme test full#
Ticks are around all year in California, but most bites from disease-carrying ticks occur in late winter and early spring, when nymphs are out in full force and some adults are still biting. Experts say preventing tick bites in the first place is key. Even though tick-borne disease is less common here than other parts of the U.S., it does occur and it’s important to catch and treat it early. Ticks can’t fly or jump, but they do go “questing” - they hold onto leaves and grass with their back legs and reach their front legs out hoping to hitch a ride on a warm-blooded host. We’ve had a lot of rain this year so we’re expecting a higher prevalence of ticks.”Īs people return to the outdoors to enjoy the sunny weather, researchers and health experts encourage recreators to keep an eye out for those pesky little eight-legged blood-suckers.
Monterey’s sometimes foggy, rainy coast is an ideal tick habitat. “Ticks love moisture,” said Linda Giampa, executive director of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. Expect an uptick in ticks – that’s the message from the experts after January’s historic storms soaked the Bay Area, creating the perfect conditions for a big tick year.
0 kommentar(er)
