Is it known why there has been such a huge proliferation of this disease?

Are there more ticks, has the bacteria arisen and spread just in recent years? Or was it just as prevalent in the past and not understood well enough to be properly diagnosed?

They are spreading and more are carrying Lyme disease. I do know it was around when I was a kid though. I lived in NS where ticks are common. I remember at age 11 having a tick on me and my friends grandmother had to pull it and we had to send it off for testing. So it's not a new thing, but it is more common as the ticks spread. Not all species of ticks carry it though.

The author Amy Tam was also bitten by a tick and had a hard time getting treatment. Finally going to a Lyme specialist, she is getting treatment after some very scary symptoms. My neighbor, who is an active 22 young man was feeling very tired and run down, aching joints and some other signs. Finally the doctors tested for Lyme's in May and he came back positive.
https://www.amytan.net/lyme-disease.html

I don't know how they count them, but I've read that deer tick numbers are way up this year, possibly due to the heavy snow cover we had over the winter. I've had three tick bites in the past month. They have been a concern where I live for about 20 years, but not nearly as big a concern as in the past five or so years. Back in the 70s we never heard about them. Just dog ticks, which don't seem to do much harm.

Lyme isn't the only problem:

Tick co-infections

The scary new Powassan virus

And (yikes!) this

Pkramer, thank you for that link. What a nightmare she went through! I've read widely on the subject of Lyme, and I think that's the worst case I've ever heard of. As she says, she's lucky to be able to afford a Lyme-literate doctor and long-term treatment.

Actually, she was lucky to be able to find a true Lyme expert. Since just about anyone can call themselves that, finding a good one can be a roll of the dice. An expensive roll of the dice.

Rebecca Wells that wrote the Ya Ya sisterhood books also has Lyme disease and babesiosis and nearly died from it because it was misdiagnosed many times.

Link to article discussion of her illness

Rebecca Wells

We would get tick bites quite often as children because we lived in the country and were out playing in the woods and with the animals we never thought much about it. Mom or dad would remove them and cleaned up the area and watched it but that was it. Now if I see one I am very aware of the dangers. I had one bite me when we lived in Oklahoma, I got a red circle around it and my doctor immediately started me on the meds and sent my blood work off. It came back clear thankfully! I don't think I have seen any ticks here at this house but I don't have any outdoor animals and I am not out in the tall grass or woods either. I think there is more awareness about these diseases now because of some high profile individuals who have it. Yolanda Foster has really done a lot to bring it into the spotlight since her diagnosis.

I didn't know who Yolanda Foster was, so I looked her up. Her photo appears on this page of faces of Lyme. Many are famous, and some have their stories linked to their photo.

Faces of Lyme

I'll definitely check out your link, Raven. I'm fairly certain I picked up babesiosis four or five years ago. I had all the classic symptoms, some of which never disappeared. I spoke with one of the top babesiosis researchers in the country--very nice man--who felt I couldn't have it because at the time it hadn't been diagnosed here. I explained to him that a) the physicians in this location mostly never heard of it, and b) the diagnostic test costs $3,000, not covered by insurance. So it's unlikely it'll ever show up here.

But meanwhile, the babesia parasite, which infects red blood cells, has surfaced in the Red Cross blood supply. People can live with a mild form of the illness without realizing they have it, and the Red Cross can't screen for it, although they may be working on that.

I watch the Real Housewives show that she's in and she really helped people understand how serious it is. She was very open and honest about how difficult it was for her, and how she nearly died, and even after treatment she still doesn't feel good. It's really scary.

Yolanda has traveled to several foreign countries with various types of treatments. She has tried some very experimental ones. She has also had stem cell treatment. Her husband David Foster is very famous as well as her ex husband Mohammed Hadid. Her daughters are following in her footsteps and becoming very famous models as well. Gigi Hadid is a beautiful young lady. With that kind of fame and wealth behind the scenes donating to the cause and pushing for a cure and research it has to be beneficial.

Would that we could, Malna!