‘Spreading like wildfire’: How one KY county is grappling with a national tick-borne scourge

By: Liam Niemeyer

Outlets: Kentucky Lantern

Published: September 29, 2026

Words: 2,151

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 3 days ago

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OWEN COUNTY, Ky. — She usually had a “stomach of steel.” Most food wouldn’t really bother her. But when Eliza Petzinger had a helping of country ham during her family’s Christmas dinner last year, the strong reaction — stomach discomfort and nausea — came just hours later.

“I was so sick, and so I knew. I just knew,” Petzinger told the Lantern earlier this month.

Just days later in January, she …

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