All members of our team read and analyzed four research articles that contained information related to our research. The articles were used to gain information and methods to help with our research. The use of outside articles also adds to the validity of our teams research. Below are the citations of the articles we each individually read, as well as a quick description of the information it provided us with.
m
Environmental Protection Agency. (2022). Climate Change Indicators: Lyme Disease. EPA.https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-lyme-disease#ref4
Ticks are most active in temperatures above 45˚F. In the United States, Michigan, Vermont, and New Hampshire are the states with the highest cases reported. There have been patterns of warmer winters in these states. This causes more deer to populate these areas, which increases the amount of deer ticks.
b
Allan, B. F. (2000). Effect of forest fragmentation on Lyme disease risk.
Undergraduate Ecology Research Reports. 1-10. https://www.caryinstitute.org/sites/default/files/public/reprints/Allan_2000_REU.pdf
Ticks are more prevalent in forest that have been fragmented. They are more populated because as the forest gets smaller, bigger competitor animals will leave to find new habitats leaving the deer and smaller hosts to thrive in these sections.
b
Backenson, B. Lin, S. Lu, J. Shrestha, S. Prusinski, M.A. Lukacik, G. Smith, M. White, J.L. (2019) The effects of multiyear and seasonal weather factors on incidence of Lyme disease and its vector in New York State. Science of The Total Environment, 665, 1182-1188. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969719306059
In New York State, the Hudson valley is the county that has the highest cases reported. New York has temperatures that are prime for the survival of Lyme disease infected ticks. With the temperatures that is warm enough for people to go outside gives the ticks a better chance of attaching onto humans, usually children playing in high grasses and forests, and elders who cannot check themselves well for ticks.
b
Steere, A. C. (1994). Lyme Disease: A Growing Threat to Urban Populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(7), 2378–2383. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2364240
As glaciers moved on from coastline states like New York, it left fertile lands for forest to grow. This caused places like Cape Cod and the end of Long Island to have high reports and early reports of humans being affected with Lyme disease from ticks. As the years go on the counties of New York have increasing numbers of cases being reported from specific symptoms, but there is also the chance that some of the cases have been false.
b
Steere, A. C., Coburn, J., & Glickstein, L. (2004). The emergence of Lyme disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 113(8), 1093–1101. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci21681
The background of Lyme Disease was described, stating at its first diagnosis in Lyme, Connecticut. The different bacteria that cause the disease in different parts of the world, as well as the different species of ticks that carry these bacteria were described. Most importantly for our research, the life cycle of the tick was described in detail.
b
Schauber, E. M., Ostfeld, R. S., & Evans, Jr, A. S. (2005). WHAT IS THE BEST PREDICTOR OF ANNUAL LYME DISEASE INCIDENCE: WEATHER, MICE, OR ACORNS? Ecological Applications, 15(2), 575–586. https://doi.org/10.1890/03-5370
There are many variables that go into the amount of Lyme Disease cases in a year. White-footed mouse is the primary host for larval and nymphal ticks. These mice feed off the acorns dropped from oak trees. The number of acorns affects the number of mice in the area which both impact the amount of Lyme Disease infections. Weather also directly impacts the host animals of these ticks. Colder winters cause the white-footed mice, and the deer to migrate further away.
b
White, J., Noonan-Toly, C., Lukacik, G., Thomas, N., Hinckley, A., Hook, S., & Backenson, P. B. (2016). Lyme Disease Surveillance in New York State: an Assessment of Case Underreporting. Zoonoses and Public Health, 65(2), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12307
There are over 120,000 total cases of Lyme Disease in New York state alone. Cases of Lyme Disease are primarily diagnosed through results of blood panels instead of diagnosing based on symptoms alone. 20% of Lyme disease cases are unreported so many of the numbers are lower than they seem.
MacDonald, Andrew J. et al. “Missing the People for the Trees: Identifying Coupled Natural Human System Feedbacks Driving the Ecology of Lyme Disease.” The Journal of applied ecology 56.2 (2019): 354–364. Web.
When researching the occurrence of Lyme disease in a given area, it is important to understand the habitat. The trails which our research was done fragmented the forest which they run through. This article discussed the relationship between forest fragmentation and Lyme disease incidence rate. In addition to forest fragmentation, the relationship between oak masting years and Lyme disease occurrence was identified. The forest which our research was done is filled with oak trees.
