Two state parks in Illinois have landed on a list of state parks with the highest rate of tick-borne illnesses in the U.S.
The website World Atlas ranked 10 parks by the severity of the tick-borne disease problem in their surrounding region. In Illinois, Starved Rock State Park took the top spot at No. 8, with the website noting its combination of dense woods and heavy visitation make it among the state’s higher-risk sites.
Landing next on the list was Mississippi Palisades State Park at No. 9.
Both parks were noted for high blacklegged tick populations.
The rankings come as cases of a life-threatening allergy caused by a certain kind of tick bite rise across the state.
Chris Stone, a medical entomologist with the University of Illinois, said Illinois is seeing “an increasing number of cases of alpha-gal syndrome.”
Alpha-gal syndrome is a life-threatening allergy to meat triggered by tick bites.
Cases are climbing as more people report symptoms such as hives, diarrhea and itchiness after eating as little as a mouthful of meat and — in some cases — dairy.
While experts point to an increase in awareness about the condition, rising cases also reflect the expanding habitat range of the lone star tick, the primary source of the condition in the U.S.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recently highlighted AGS, noting that cases were being reported in Illinois, though no number has been provided.
More than 110,000 suspected cases of AGS were identified between 2010 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But because the agency isn’t regularly notified about cases, as many as 450,000 people may be affected.
Curious about the symptoms of alpha-gal syndrome? Find a detailed list here.
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