Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a disease spread through bites of ticks that live primarily on dogs, remains rare, but its frequency is rising. It is at epidemic levels in northern Mexico. In Baja California, there were 92 cases in 2022 which prompted a team of Mexican and U.S. scientists to pluck ticks off dogs, scour homes for larvae and warn residents to keep their dogs off the streets in one town.
Since 2003, nearly 500 cases and 28 deaths have been reported on tribal lands in the U.S. In California, 88 cases were reported between 2013 and 2022, more than triple the cases reported in the previous decade.
Source: The Washington Post, August 29, 2023. Link. (includes video) They begin biting people earlier in the year and stay out longer,” said Ben Beard, deputy director of the division of vector-borne diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “More people are being exposed potentially to the bites of infected ticks and, as a result, more cases of tick-borne disease.”
INSIGHTS: As shown in this article, awareness campaigns and long-acting tick collars go a long way to reducing the incidences of this disease.