Where the Ticks Overlap

Where the Ticks Overlap

From Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS) by AWLS

March 6, 2026 · 9 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the expanding geographic ranges of tick species and the complications in diagnosing tick-borne diseases.

As climate and ecological conditions shift across the United States, the geographic boundaries of several tick species are expanding—and with them comes growing confusion about the diseases they carry. In this episode, we explore the spread of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum) and the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), and how their overlapping ranges are complicating the diagnosis of tick-borne illnesses. One of the biggest challenges is distinguishing between Lyme disease and STA...

Topics covered

  • tick species
  • disease diagnosis
  • Lyme disease
  • ecological changes
  • tick-borne illnesses

Keywords

  • ticks
  • Lone Star tick
  • blacklegged tick
  • Lyme disease
  • tick-borne illnesses
  • Amblyomma americanum
  • Ixodes scapularis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, Lyme disease, STA

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