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Mississippi 2022 adult blacklegged tick collection map

Published at 389 × 613 in In Mississippi, Blacklegged Ticks’ Seasonal Shift Deemed “Very Strange”

Map of Mississippi counties in white with black outlines, each labeled with the county name in small text. In nine counties, a pink star indicates where adult blacklegged ticks were collected in summer 2022. Stars appear in Alcorn, Tishomingo, Lee, and Pontotoc counties in the northeast corner of the state; Leake county in the center of the state; Jasper county in the southeast; and Hinds, Copiah, and Amite counties in the southwest.

For the first time ever, adult blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis)—the species that transmits Lyme disease—were discovered in Mississippi in the summer of 2022, and not just in one spot, but in nine counties (as indicated) throughout the state. Previously, adult-stage blacklegged ticks only showed up in the fall. (Map by Leslie Mertz, Ph.D.)

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