A new study highlights the unexpected presence of Lyme disease-carrying ticks in California beach areas, far from their typical forest habitats.
Lyme disease often starts asymptomatically but can become debilitating, causing chronic joint pain, partial limb paralysis, and even heart complications. Transmitted via bites from ticks infected with Spirochaetales bacteria, it impacts about 250,000 people annually in Europe and 300,000 in the United States.
Published on April 23, 2021, in Applied and Environmental Microbiology by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, research from multiple U.S. universities identified adult Ixodes pacificus ticks harboring Borrelia burgdorferi—the Lyme-causing bacterium—in California beach areas.
Notably, tick prevalence here matches that in their usual wooded environments in the Pacific Northwest, including California's northwestern forests.
“The high rate of disease-carrying ticks in coastal areas truly surprised us. By examining multiple tick-borne pathogens, we see a need to reassess local disease risks," stated lead author Daniel Salkeld.
The findings underscore the urgency to better educate the public and healthcare providers on tick-borne risks.
In August 2020, we covered progress by France's Valneva lab in Nantes, developing a Lyme vaccine after a decade of research. Phase 2 trials with 800 participants are underway, with Phase 3 planned for 16,000 volunteers across Europe and the U.S., accounting for regional bacterial variations and targeting a 2025 launch.
