This story was produced in collaboration with Climate Central. It also received support from the Pulitzer Center.
Southwest Virginia is a hotspot for tick-borne disease—with some of the highest per-person rates of Lyme disease in the state. That rise has happened over the past 20 years.
At a public health fair in Roanoke, Jenny Hall holds up a plush version of a blood-sucking mite. “Have you ever seen this?”, she asks two students visiting her table, which is covered with displays and handouts in multiple languages. Hall is a public health expert at Radford University and founder of the website Ticks in Virginia. This event is put on by a nonprofit called Blue Ridge Literacy that teaches adults English…