Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of Lyme disease cases, and evidence is showing that rates are on the rise.

In an attempt to minimize Lyme disease and other diseases spread by ticks, the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab at East Stroudsburg University is partnering with Allegheny College on a groundbreaking tick mitigation study.

It’s hoped that the research reveals how to reduce the tick population and thus reduce the transmission of tick-related disease, explained Sen. Michele Brooks, a Western Pennsylvania lawmaker who announced the study with college research officials recently.

The state-funded, multiyear study will be conducted in Monroe, Lehigh, Pike, Bucks, Crawford and Mercer counties.

As director of the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab, Nicole Chinnici knows that ticks and tickborne illnesses have been affecting residents of Pennsylvania for decades.

The most recent data, collected by the lab in 2021, shows cases of Lyme disease are on the uptick.

The illness, which is spread by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, was spotted in 39.7 percent of the 7,874 adult females tested, and 24.3 percent of the 5,847 nymphs tested, Chinnici noted. Blacklegged ticks are often referred to as deer ticks.

Across the region and between July 1, 2021 and March 25 of this year, 49 percent of blacklegged ticks in Schuylkill County tested positive for pathogens, along with 30 percent in Carbon County and 38 percent in Monroe County.

Untreated Lyme disease can produce a wide variety of symptoms, depending on the stage of infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms can include fever, rash, facial paralysis and arthritis.

Now is the time when ticks are most likely to be around.

“Once temperatures are above freezing the adult blacklegged ticks become active. (That is) the March time frame typically in Pennsylvania but it can occur in February, based on weather. May and June are the most prevalent months for tick bites from all types of ticks,” Chinnici said. Other ticks in Pennsylvania include the American dog tick and Lone Star tick.

And because of the activity, the lab has been seeing an increase in tick bite reports, Chinnici noted.

Even so, there’s no way to determine whether the tick population is increasing, she said. Many factors play a role in the survival of ticks, including access to wildlife hosts, such as rodents, and weather.

“This funding (for the study) will allow our researchers to evaluate the use of tick mitigation strategies in reducing tick and tickborne illnesses in three regions of Pennsylvania, including the northwest” where there is a gradient of higher prevalence of tickborne pathogens, Chinnici said. “We are excited to be on the cutting edge of new research with the goal of finding the most effective strategy for reducing tick populations.”

For the study, research technicians will drag wood line areas with a corduroy cloth to collect any ticks. After that, they will set live mouse traps in wood line areas. Blood samples will be taken from the unharmed captured mice and ticks to monitor infections.

Technicians will have equipment to vaccinate mice against ticks, which will also kill the ticks, according to researchers.

The lab will also continue to offer free tick testing. It started doing so in April of 2019, and checks the critters for most type of tickborne diseases.

Anyone who has removed a tick from themselves is encouraged to place it in a plastic bag and mail it to the lab. Instructions can be found at www.Ticklab.org. Senders will receive their results in a few days.

Since the lab began offering the service, it has tested 35,421 ticks, including 28,360 blacklegged ticks, 5,790 American dog ticks and 943 Lone Star ticks, Chinnici said.

In its most recent data from 2019, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Pennsylvania had more Lyme cases than the entire nation. It logged 6,673 of them, almost triple that of second-ranked New York, which had 2,847 cases.

The CDC estimates that a half million people will contract the disease this year. Currently, more than 2 million people suffer from chronic illness associated with Lyme disease.