**Related Video Above: Tick-related emergency room visits doubles last summer
(WJW/AP) — As the weather warms, Ohioans are heeding the call of the wild. But with that comes a higher chance of coming in contact with ticks, which spread Lyme disease and other blood-borne illnesses.
In looking at data from the Ohio Department of Health, cases of Lyme disease have skyrocketed across the sate over the past 15 years.
Invasive tick spread to 23 states, including Ohio last year: Should you be concerned?
Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff warned about the uptick in a press conference Tuesday. He said in 2010, only 40 cases of Lyme disease were reported. In 2020, that number moved to about 400 cases. By last year, the number hit 2,800 reported cases.
Vanderhoff said “unfortunately the answer to why it’s happening is not one simple thing, it’s a whole variety of issues.”
Find out much more about alpha-gal syndrome meat allergy, spread by ticks, right here
He noted that environment was certainly one factor…