From April to November, most dog owners are used to checking their dogs for small crawling ticks that have become stuck in the fur of their pets.

The incidence of ticks at all of Turku University’s research sites in Turku as well as in Helsinki has risen over the past 20 years, and they can still active into the fall, even after periods of freezing weather. Southwestern Finland and Uusimaa have reported 29 cases of tick-borne encephalitis and some 1,500 people have contracted Lyme disease, an illness caused by ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi.

A record number of Swedes are taking the vaccine against TBE - Tick Borne Encephalitis. But the disease is still spreading in the country.

Thanks to a growing tick database at the University of Turku, researchers have new insights into the disease pathogens that the tiny, blood-sucking arachnids carry.

New research finds that ticks are not only becoming more common in Finland but incidents of the tick-borne disease Borrelia - also known as Lyme disease - has grown exponentially in the past 20 years.

Cases of TBE have fallen slightly, but in Kustavi on the west coast, the number has been growing steadily.