UPDATE: The CDC just released new data today (10-19-16) which shows Pennsylvania now has reported 10,038 cases.

With more than two months left in the year, Pennsylvania remains the Lyme disease capital in the US once again.

Black-legged tick
Ixodes scapularis, a Black-legged tick/CDC

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, as of the week ending Oct. 8, Pennsylvania is reporting 9,826 Lyme disease cases, or nearly four out of 10 cases in the US to date (25,117).

In addition, it is about 1000 cases more than the Keystone state reported during the same period in 2015.

Pennsylvania has led the nation in Lyme disease cases ten consecutive years since 2007 with the most cases in a single year reported in 2015 with 10,817, and that appears to be soon broken this year.

Last year, researchers at The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) reported for the first time blacklegged (deer) ticks in all 67 Pennsylvania counties.

A study by the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown published in August showed that one in three deer ticks tested in Western Pennsylvania harbored the Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorfferi, and more recently, a team from Muhlenberg College in Allentown tested ticks in the Lehigh Valley discovering that 23 percent of those tested carried the Lyme bacteria.

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