Overview
- Targeted surveillance in Biltmore Forest collected 373 ticks from November 2024 through August 2025 and found blacklegged ticks made up about 77% of specimens with roughly 40% of tested adult ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi.
- The Cary Institute’s 35‑year synthesis, published in PNAS in mid‑August 2026, shows white‑footed mouse abundance and two‑year acorn mast cycles predict nymphal tick numbers while deer density does not predict nymph abundance.
- UNC researchers also detected bacteria linked to anaplasmosis and hard tick relapsing fever in Biltmore Forest ticks, and ten western North Carolina counties have moved to recommend a single prophylactic antibiotic dose after some tick exposures.
- CDC data and local reports point to rising tick activity and gaps in clinician experience in the South, with tick‑bite emergency department visits reaching a nine‑year high in April and clinicians warned to consider Lyme without travel history.
- The findings change prevention priorities by underscoring mouse control, yard management, tick checks, repellents, and expanded surveillance for multiple pathogens while noting ticks can shelter in leaf litter so simple warming trends do not fully predict risk.