Ticks, often viewed as bloodsucking parasites, are actually a vector of many serious diseases, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Human actions in the past have played a significant role in spreading these diseases widely today. Environmental historians study ticks to understand how human activities have shaped their ecology.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, large-scale land clearing in the northeastern US led to a decline in wildlife, allowing deer populations to thrive. As deer returned, deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) carrying Lyme disease bacteria spread. The eastern US became a global hot spot for tick-borne Lyme disease starting around the 1970s.
In California, human settlement has pushed into wildland areas, reshaping tick ecology. Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) thrive in small, isolated patches of greenery, making infections easier to spread within host populations. Six counties surrounding San Francisco account for 44% of recorded tick-borne illnesses in California.
The US Department of Agriculture’s cattle fever tick program helped curb outbreaks by limiting where and when cattle crossed tick-dense areas. A similar approach can be applied globally to manage tick-borne diseases. Ticks are products of their environment, influenced by human activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and land use changes.
Source: https://theconversation.com/ticks-carry-decades-of-history-in-each-troublesome-bite-257110