Surge of rare tick-borne disease linked to warming climate

In 2023, experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a dramatic rise in babesiosis, a historically rare tick-borne disease, throughout New England. Here in Maine, where babesiosis was not previously considered endemic, incidence of the illness soared a whopping 1,422% in less than a decade. Reported cases in Maine jumped from 9 in 2011 to 138 in 2019. Last year there were more than 300 cases, according to preliminary data. It is a troubling trend that a team of Massachusetts doctors now warns is likely linked to climate change-induced warming across the region.