It can be almost impossible to feel a tick crawling on your skin as some can be smaller than the size of a period at the end of a sentence. It is important for everyone to protect themselves from ticks. In the northeast part of the United States, deer ticks (blacklegged ticks) run rampant. These parasites in their adult form are around the size of a sesame seed. The life cycle of the deer tick has three stages and they live for two years. First the larva hatch from eggs in the summer and after their first meal from a host, it becomes a nymph in the fall. The nymph is around the size of a poppy seed and they hibernate underground during the winter emerging again in May to complete their life cycle. This map from the team at CEU fast shows where in the US you are most likely to be bitten by an infected tick. The following counties and case counts are as follows:
- Chester County, Pennsylvania: 470 cases
- Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: 435 cases
- Morris County, New Jersey: 425 cases
- Hillsborough County, New Hampshire: 419 cases
- Rockingham County, New Hampshire: 415 cases
- Butler County, Pennsylvania: 377 cases
- Monmouth County, New Jersey: 368 cases
- Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: 363 cases
- Bucks County, Pennsylvania: 363 cases
- Cumberland County, Maine: 354 cases
Infographic by: ceufast
