Contributing+Factors+-+Lyme+Disease


 * Ecological**
 * The way in which Lyme disease is transmitted was crucial to the initial outbreak in 1975.
 * Since ticks had inhabited the Northeast area for so long, the sudden outbreak of a tick bourn disease seemed highly implausible.
 * The outbreak was caused by ecological and societal changes rather than a biological shift in the disease.
 * Prior to the 1970s, the forests and surrounding agricultural areas in the Northeast provided perfect ecosystems for both deer ticks and their food sources.
 * This ecosystem was ideal because the ticks would feed on deer which did not have the disease, and the rodents which did have the disease would not spread it.


 * Transmission through Ticks**
 * In the 1970s over population of Northeastern towns occurred, which lead people to move to rural areas.
 * This shift to rural populations lead to a change in the diet of the ticks.
 * As the deer and other wildlife left the forests as humans began to populate them, the ticks began to feed on human and rat blood instead of their previous sources of deer and animal blood.
 * The subtle symptoms of the disease made it difficult to trace to specific areas.


 * Population Growth**
 * Human populations continue to expand and grow in previously ecologically balanced forests, which creates an environment where the rate of Lyme disease will continue to grow.


 * Future Danger**
 * If a drug ressitant strain of Lyme disease were to evolve or come about, it would be extremely difficult because eradicating Lyme disease entirely is effectively impossible.