How to Protect Yourself from Ticks and the Dangerous Diseases They Spread

Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is on the rise. Tick-borne diseases have been booming in the U.S., with major increases in Lyme in the last two decades. Tick abundance could spike this summer. A large acorn crop in 2021 helped small rodents boom. They are a key host for ticks, which spend a year in their larval stage before molting into nymphs, their most perilous stage. So this could be a big year for ticks.