Tick season is starting across the US, and experts are warning that the bloodsuckers may be as abundant as ever. Some researchers say another mild winter and other favorable factors mean tick populations in 2024 will be equal to or greater than last year. “It’s very bad and getting worse,” said Susanna Visser of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An increasing diversity of ticks are entering new geographic areas, causing unusual diseases.
For example, exotic southern species such as the Gulf Coast tick and the Lone Star tick are being found in New York and other northern states. But the tick that experts warn about most is the common blacklegged tick, which is found primarily in forests and spreads Lyme disease. Infection rates begin to peak in May, and U.S. health officials estimate about half a million Lyme disease infections occur annually.
Here’s what to expect this year and how you can protect yourself.
tick the facts
Ticks are tiny, eight-legged blood-sucking parasites – arachnids, not insects – that feed on animals and sometimes people. Some ticks are infected with germs that can cause disease, and they spread those germs when they bite. There is no widely accepted estimate of how many ticks there are from one year to the next, but there is a scientific consensus that they are becoming a common health threat in large parts of the United States.
Blacklegged ticks – also known as deer ticks, because they eat deer – are among the most common ticks in the eastern part of the U.S. They were abundant centuries ago, when forests were cut down and deer. They diminished when the deer were hunted, and re-emerged along with the deer. And wooded suburbia. Ticks have spread widely, from parts of New England and the Midwest to the South and the Great Plains.
Tick populations cycle throughout the year and their numbers depend on certain factors. They like warm, humid weather and can be seen more after mild winters. More deer and mice available for food also matters. Researchers say that overall, the blacklegged tick population has been increasing for at least four decades. “This is a slow-moving epidemic,” said Rebecca Eisen, a CDC research biologist and tick expert.
2024 tick season forecast
Weather can play a role in the severity of tick season. Very cold, dry winters can reduce tick populations, but recent winters have been mild – some believe this trend is due to climate change. As Scott Williams, a tick researcher at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, said: “Winter is no longer limiting tick populations.” Ticks can withstand heat, but when there is a dry summer they almost hibernate. That happened in Maine from 2020 to 2022, said Chuck Lubelczyk, a vector ecologist at the MaineHealth Institute for Research.
But last year was a very wet year, and tick activity multiplied in Maine – the state with the highest incidence of Lyme disease in the country. Weather service predictions call for higher temperatures and precipitation, so “on paper, at least, this could be a very good year for ticks,” Lublin said.
In Wisconsin, the mild winter kept adult ticks out longer than usual. Tick nymphs are beginning to emerge, and a wet spring is setting the stage for the possibility that populations will be strong, said Xia Li, an entomologist with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Ditto New York.
“It will be as bad as last year, or worse,” said Saravanan Thangamani, who studies ticks and tickborne diseases at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
What is Lyme disease?
Not all ticks are infected with disease-causing germs — experts estimate that about 20% to 30% of blacklegged tick nymphs emerging in the Northeast and Midwest this spring and summer will carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Symptoms of Lyme disease begin between three and 30 days after the bite and can include fever, headache, fatigue, and a bull’s-eye-like rash. If you are bitten and develop symptoms, see a doctor to be treated with antibiotics.
How to keep ticks away from you
Experts say the best thing to do is to take steps to avoid tick bites in the first place. If you go outside, pay attention to wooded areas and where the grassy properties begin to flow into the wooded areas. Ticks sit on ankle-level vegetation with their upper legs extended, waiting to latch on to an unsuspecting dog or human. Try to avoid walking paths, wear light-colored and permethrin-treated clothing, and use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents.
How to check for ticks
When you come in, check for ticks. They can be found anywhere on the human body, but common locations include around the waist, behind the knees, between the fingers and toes, in the armpits, in the navel, and around the neck or hairline. They are hard to see when they are small, so look carefully and immediately remove them with tweezers. CDC does not recommend sending individual ticks to testing services for analysis, because a person may experience more than one tick bite and the results from tested ticks may not be sufficient information.
