Madison Area Lyme Support Group

Here is Aparna Taylor, ND, MSc from Calgary, Alberta on the right with a poster presentation at the recent ILADS conference in Chicago of John and Catherine Scott’s work on the spread of ticks.  Study found in the Journal of Veterinary  Science and Medicine:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/scott-scott-2018-ticks-and-climate-change-jvsm.pdf

I break it down here:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/13/study-shows-lyme-not-propelled-by-climate-change/, and explain that according to the Scotts, there are numerous problems with the climate change model regarding tick proliferation and therefore, the spread of tick borne illnesses.

1. Climate-change researchers overlooked and did not take into account established populations of I. scapularis found in the late 1960’s in the upper Midwest, as well as at Manitoba in 1991, in their climate change model maps. Even game hunters remember ticks on the heads and necks of deer in the 1950’s and 1960’s in northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba. The faulty climate change maps are devoid of any ticks in those areas – yet experience shows otherwise. This has been the experience of patients across the globe as well.
2. If there was any substance to climate warming in propagating ticks the Amblyomma americium (lone star tick) would have become established in the southernmost part of Ontario, but they haven’t.
3. The progression of studies used by climate change researchers follows the order in which they were conducted not the result and progression of climate change.  Just because U.S. studies start in the early 80’s does not mean that was when ticks were established. As noted before, ticks and spirochetes have both been found in fossils, obviously long before the 80’s. This demonstrates climate adaptability.
4. Climate change models overlook the fact that deer ticks were established in northwestern Ontario, southern Manitoba and were already in central Canada prior to 1970. What they predict to happen in the future has already happened in Canada. Their oversight caused a skewed rate of tick expansion and a miscalculation of northward projected movement.
5. Ticks are marvelous ecoadaptors and find snow and leaf litter when conditions become harsh.  Warmer winters are in fact lethal to I. scapularis (black-legged) ticks. In fact, overwinter survival dropped to 33% when the snow melted. This has been substantiated by other researchers as well.
6. Yearly bidirectional, songbird migration in spring and fall is behind tick expansion and the climate change model actually reflects migratory flight not warmer futuristic temperatures.
7. Scott’s in-house tick studies have shown that black-legged ticks require 14 hours of daylight to molt. If ticks can’t molt, they can’t move on to their next life-cycle. Photoperiod is innate and can not be altered by the climate.

He states:

“The hypothesis that I. scapularis ticks will expand further north in the Prairie Provinces because of climate change is not only unscientific, but deceiving.”

I’ve been following the Scotts’ work for years as they are also patients who have been infected for decades with tick borne illness and who have done their own independent work.  I am thankful for them and the honest, transparent work they do.  As often happens in TBI research, the honest researchers are ignored while those pushing an agenda move forward.  Do not be fooled.

“For blacklegged ticks, climate change is an apocryphal issue.” -John Scott

Please spread the word that climate data will not help patients one iota.

For an excellent interview with John Scott:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/14/canadian-tick-expert-climate-change-is-not-behind-lyme-disease/ (He also explains the bogus Lyme vaccine as well)

**UPDATE July 2022**