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Climate Change Indicators: Lyme Disease

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This indicator tracks the rate of reported Lyme disease cases across the United States.

  • Line graph showing the annual incidence of Lyme disease, which is calculated as the number of new reported cases in the United States per 100,000 people, from 1991 to 2014. 
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    This figure shows the annual incidence of Lyme disease, which is calculated as the number of new cases per 100,000 people. The graph is based on cases that local and state health departments report to CDC’s national disease tracking system.

    Data source: CDC, 20158
    Web update: August 2016

Key Points

  • The incidence of Lyme disease in the United States has approximately doubled since 1991, from 3.74 reported cases per 100,000 people to 7.95 reported cases per 100,000 people in 2014 (see Figure 1).
     
  • Among the states where Lyme disease is most common, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont have experienced the largest increases in reported case rates since 1991, followed by Delaware and Massachusetts (see Figure 2). On average, these five states now report 50 to 100 more cases per 100,000 people than they did in 1991.
     
  • Driven by multiple factors, the number and distribution of reported cases of Lyme disease have increased over time (see 1996 and 2014 maps). 

References

1 CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2015. Lyme disease data and statistics. www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html. Accessed December 2015.

2 CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2013. CDC provides estimate of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year. www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/p0819-lyme-disease.html.

3 Beard, C.B., R.J. Eisen, C.M. Barker, J.F. Garofalo, M. Hahn, M. Hayden, A.J. Monaghan, N.H. Ogden, and P.J. Schramm. 2016. Chapter 5: Vector-borne diseases. The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program. https://health2016.globalchange.gov.

4 Beard, C.B., R.J. Eisen, C.M. Barker, J.F. Garofalo, M. Hahn, M. Hayden, A.J. Monaghan, N.H. Ogden, and P.J. Schramm. 2016. Chapter 5: Vector-borne diseases. The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program. https://health2016.globalchange.gov.

5 Leighton, P.A., J.K. Koffi, Y. Pelcat, L.R. Lindsay, and N.H. Ogden. 2012. Predicting the speed of tick invasion: An empirical model of range expansion for the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis in Canada. J. Appl. Ecol. 49(2): 457-464.

6 Beard, C.B., R.J. Eisen, C.M. Barker, J.F. Garofalo, M. Hahn, M. Hayden, A.J. Monaghan, N.H. Ogden, and P.J. Schramm. 2016. Chapter 5: Vector-borne diseases. The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program. https://health2016.globalchange.gov.

7 Gamble, J.L., J. Balbus, M. Berger, K. Bouye, V. Campbell, K. Chief, K. Conlon, A. Crimmins, B. Flanagan, C. Gonzalez-Maddux, E. Hallisey, S. Hutchins, L. Jantarasami, S. Khoury, M. Kiefer, J. Kolling, K. Lynn, A. Manangan, M. McDonald, R. Morello-Frosch, M.H. Redsteer, P. Sheffield, K. Thigpen Tart, J. Watson, K.P. Whyte, and A.F. Wolkin. 2016. Chapter 9: Populations of concern. The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program. https://health2016.globalchange.gov.

8 CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2015. Lyme disease data and statistics. www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html. Accessed December 2015.

9 CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2015. Lyme disease data and statistics. www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html. Accessed December 2015.

10 CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). 2015. Lyme disease data and statistics. www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html. Accessed December 2015.

11 Diuk-Wasser, M.A., A.G. Hoen, P. Cislo, R. Brinkerhoff, S.A. Hamer, M. Rowland, R. Cortinas, G. Vourc'h, F. Melton, G.J. Hickling, J.I. Tsao, J. Bunikis, A.G. Barbour, U. Kitron, J. Piesman, and D. Fish. 2012. Human risk of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent, in eastern United States. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 86(2):320–327.

12 Stromdahl, E.Y., and G.J. Hickling. 2012. Beyond Lyme: Aetiology of tick-borne human diseases with emphasis on the south-eastern United States. Zoonoses Public Hlth. 59(Supplement 2):48–64.

13 U.S. Census Bureau. 2015. Population estimates: Intercensal estimates. Accessed December 3, 2015. www.census.gov/popest/data/intercensal/index.html.

14 U.S. Census Bureau. 2015. Population estimates: Current estimates data. Accessed December 3, 2015. www.census.gov/popest/data/index.html


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Learn about other indicators in this section

Heat-Related Deaths Heat-Related Illnesses Heating and Cooling Degree Days Lyme Disease West Nile Virus Length of Growing Season Ragweed Pollen Season