What is already known:
What this study adds:
Abstract:
Lyme disease is the most prevalent arthropod borne disease in the United States. The disease is transmitted to humans and other mammalian hosts through the bite of infected ixodes scapularis, better known as black-legged ticks. Established tick populations were historically reported in Eastern and Central United States. However, projections of climate change in North America suggest an increase in distribution of tick habitat suitability and subsequent Lyme disease incidence in the future. Future climate model projections serve as important tools because they can account for various future scenarios of how tick habitat suitability might change. The outcome of this research was to identify habitats of black-legged ticks by creating a logistic regression utilizing historical modeled climate data and tick data to determine future tick habitat suitability across the U.S. Tick presence was found to increase along the Gulf Coast of Texas and decrease in Oklahoma. These results can help guide the appropriate targeting of prevention efforts against populations who may be at risk of Lyme disease contraction within the South Central U.S.