In 2010, there were 40 reported cases of Lyme disease in Ohio. That soared by nearly 1,000% to 415 in the next ten years. But that number has exploded in recent years.
There were more than 2,800 reported cases of Lyme disease in Ohio last year. That’s seven times more than in 2020. The disease is caused by a bite from a deer tick. Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said there are several reasons why Lyme disease case numbers are climbing in Ohio.
“We are seeing increasing temperatures, more humidity and reduced duration of the extreme cold during winter. And these create ideal conditions for tick survival and, then, greater tick activity when the warm weather arrives. Another factor, though, is that Ohio’s forests have regrown over the past decades," Vanderhoff said.
Lyme disease typically shows up as a rash around the tick bite in a bulls-eye, between three and 30 days after the bite. That's often followed by high fever, extreme tiredness, joint stiffness and swollen lymph nodes. Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics if caught early. If untreated, people with Lyme disease can suffer from severe joint, heart and nervous system problems.
Vanderhoff said Ohioans should stay out of wooded areas, but if they can't, they should wear long-sleeved light-colored clothing. He said more reforested areas and environmental conditions have made the state favorable to ticks. And he noted more Ohioans are moving into those heavily forested areas.
But Vanderhoff said the state hasn’t been tracking cases involving blacklegged or western blacklegged ticks that cause illnesses that cause the person bitten to develop potentially life-threatening allergies to meat.
“Alpha-gal syndrome is not yet a reportable condition in Ohio or nationally, so we don't have case counts. But here in Ohio, we are aware that alpha-gal is an emerging concern," Vanderhoff said.
The Centers for Disease Control reports around 110,000 suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome were identified between 2011 and 2022, but the actual number of people affected could be as high as 450,000. The syndrome is manageable for most people and some can improve, but once it's generally considered a life-long condition.
