Beware! Just because you live all year round in the city or in other highly urbanized areas, it doesn't mean you and your pets are safe from Lyme disease. That's because ticks, the most common carriers of the bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi) that cause the disease, are finding their way to us.

Lyme disease is the number one frequently reported tick-borne infection in both humans
and animals, most especially in dogs. For people, the common symptoms are reddish 'bulls-eye' rash on the tick-bitten area of the skin, fever, muscle pain and malaise. It is prevalent in the northeastern states such as Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. A recent study conducted by IDEXX Laboratories shows an increase in cases in western states such as California, Arizona and New Mexico. These places usually register low Lyme disease incidents.

Dr. Michael Dryden of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine says that the southern states are also not very far behind. "One explanation may be the continual urbanization of America, which is adding to the problem of tick migration in places where we haven't seen prevalence in the past," he said.

He added that this means “ticks are on the move and raising the risk of infection from tick-borne illnesses to regions where they are not only unfamiliar with these diseases and symptoms, but also perhaps unfamiliar with how to prevent the illness and protect their pets.”

The continuous urban and suburban expansion is starting to encroach into forest and other wooded areas which are the natural habitats of ticks. According to the U.S. Census, just between 1995
and 2000, 26.3 million people migrated to rural areas.

City people are also engaging more into outdoor recreations such as camping and hiking, sometimes even bringing their pets along. It comes then as no surprise that Lyme disease is most prevalent during the summer months.

The number of reported cases dramatically increased since 1982 when only 491 cases were recorded
compared to 19,931 cases in 2006. And the numbers barely went down each year. Just a little over
a decade ago, Lyme disease cases did not reach the 10,000 mark. But from 2002 to 2006, the tally started going beyond 20,000.

"As veterinarians, we need to incorporate this information into our practice, continuing
to stress the need for year-round tick control in dogs and the importance of routinely screening for ticks and tick-borne diseases." said Dr Susan Little of the Oklahoma State University Department of Veterinary Pathobiology.

The changes in the landscape and human lifestyles increase the risk of encountering ticks for both people and their pets, thereby unintentionally bringing these parasites to metropolitan areas. There is no vaccination currently available for Lyme disease. The only one approved
by the Food and Drug Administration came out in 1999 and was taken off the market in 2002
due to poor sales as reported by the manufacturer.