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The disease rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis, which is carried by the Gulf Coast tick, was recently discovered in someone in Connecticut, according to a report from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Authorities did not say where in the state the case was detected.
The disease is similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever but with milder symptoms, the report said. The tick-borne illness is most commonly found in the Southeast.
Experts believe warming weather caused by climate change has allowed the tick that carries rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis to survive in the North, said Dr. Goudarz Molaei, a research scientist and medical entomologist who also directs the CAES Passive Tick and Tick-Borne Disease Surveillance Program.
“Rising global temperatures, ecological changes, reforestation, and increases in commerce and travel are important underlying factors influencing the rate and extent of range expansion of ticks and associated pathogens," the researcher said in a news release. "It is anticipated that warming temperatures related to climate change may lead to the continued range expansion and abundance of several tick species, increasing their importance as emerging threats to humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife."
More populations of the Gulf Coast tick have been spotted in the Northeast in recent years.
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