The Lyme Disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks which are now being found in habitats where once they were not thought to be. West of the Cascades and the Columbia Basin it is the Western black-legged tick that carries this bacterium, and a recent study in California has found it in more habitats than just wooded areas. Ticks carrying the Lyme bacteria were found in a wide variety of habitats including the vegetative edges of California beaches.
As the death toll of victims to the corona virus outbreak rises, we are reminded that zoonotic diseases are increasing around the world.
