The number of cases of the tick borne bacterial disease, anaplasmosis, continue to climb in Maine as the state Centers for Disease Control reports 164 cases statewide as of Nov. 18.

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

This number is up 70 from the entire 2013 when 94 cases were reported.

Related: Tickborne diseases: It’s not just Lyme disease

Anaplasmosis was first recognized as a disease of humans in the United States in the mid-1990’s, but did not become a reportable disease until 1999. It is caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

Anaplasmosis is most frequently reported from the upper midwestern and northeastern United States. The areas from which cases are reported correspond with the known geographic distribution of Lyme disease. The tick responsible for transmission of A. phagocytophilum in the upper Midwest and northeastern U.S. is the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Along the West Coast, the western black-legged tick (I. pacificus) may transmit the organism. These tick species also transmit the agents of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) and babesiosis (Babesia species), and human co-infections with these organisms have occasionally been reported.

Related: Chagas disease and chronic Babesiosis: Discussing two vector borne parasitic diseases

The case counts of other tick borne infections in Maine are as follows: 37 cases of Babesiosis so far in 2014, compared to 36 last year and 1,184 cases of Lyme disease to date compared to 1,375 cases in all of 2014.

For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page