Community News Service: Worsening tick activity may be new normal, state officials say (JUN 22, 2026)
Experts attribute the growth of tick-related illnesses, such as Lyme disease, to climate change and more frequent tick-human contact. Larner Assistant Professor of Medicine Peter Hyson, M.D., M.A., an infectious disease physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center, is concerned about Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a bacterial infection that can be transmitted from dog and other tick bites and is especially dangerous for people with weakened immune systems.