Ticks are known to spread various diseases through bites, and these are the recommendations from the CDC to prevent them.
What to Know
- Experts are reporting a high number of ticks and tick encounters this summer. Tick-related emergency room visits are on-par with last year’s “hot tick year.”
- As tick encounters may be more common this year, taking appropriate precautions when enjoying the outdoors is important.
- Ticks that carry Lyme disease are also expanding into new areas as weather patterns change across the U.S.
- Prevention is key when it comes to tick bites, experts say. Scroll down for some best ways to keep you and your family tick-free.
It may seem that every year is a “hot tick year” these days
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Experts agree that overall, tick numbers are up from, say, the 1980s. But annual tick populations vary, depending largely on weather patterns
So far, ticks seem to be slightly less prevalent in the Northeast than they were last year, according to Thomas Daniels of the Fordham University Louis Calder Center, who manages Fordham University’s Tick Index
Daniels’ tick index is a nine out of 10 this week, which indicates high risk of tick exposure in the Tri-State area. The tick index is a relative measure, meaning it represents tick-exposure risk compared to past weeks this year
This year, Daniels’ team only recorded two weeks at a 10 so far, compared to last year’s three weeks. The number of ticks needed to reach a 10, which is indicative of overall tick population trends, was lower this year than last year, but not by much
CDC data shows that in the Northeast, there was an earlier spike in tick-related emergency department visits this year than last. The rate of visits for April was nearly 1.5 times what it was last year, but May and June have tracked lower than last year
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Although July numbers look higher at the moment, it may be too soon to draw conclusions since the month is not over yet. For CDC purposes, the Northeast includes West Virginia, Virginia and all states northeast of the two
Both CDC data and Daniels’ intuition suggest tick numbers are likely to decline going forward. But we’re not out of the woods yet
“Risk is still high, this time of year,” Daniels said. “The numbers this year are pretty high. A little bit less than last year, but there’s still a reasonable amount of risk out there.”
High tick numbers can mean high risk of Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that’s most common in northeastern and midwestern states. But there are steps you can take to protect you and your family from ticks while enjoying the outdoors this summer
I don’t want to dissuade anyone from going out and enjoying nature… Just realize that the risk is high right now
Thomas Daniels, director of the Louis Calder Center at Fordham University
How to prevent Lyme disease
Lyme disease rates are highest in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and northern Midwest. Experts estimate that roughly 20% to 30% of young deer ticks in the Northeast carry Lyme disease
As tick encounters may be more common this year, taking appropriate precautions when enjoying the outdoors is important
“I don’t want to dissuade anyone from going out and enjoying nature,” Daniels said. “The fact is, we live in forested areas because we like to be out and about. Just realize that the risk is high right now.”
Many Lyme disease patients are unaware of a tick bite before exhibiting symptoms, according to the CDC. That makes it even more important to take preventative measures against tick exposure
- If you are outdoors, stay in the center of trails and avoid wooded and brushy areas.
- Wear long pants and tuck your pants into your socks and your shirt into your pants, to limit ticks’ access to skin.
- To repel ticks, you can use EPA-registered insect repellents and treat your clothes, but not skin, with products containing 0.5% permethrin, or purchase pre-treated clothing.
- When spending time outdoors in high-risk areas for Lyme disease, thoroughly check your body and clothes for ticks. Find CDC guidelines for tick checks here.
What to do if you are bitten by a tick
According to the CDC, a tick usually needs to be attached for more than 24 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease. This means it is important to remove a tick as soon as possible once it has been spotted
To remove a tick, grab the tick with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull upward without jerking or twisting. If tweezers are not available, grab the tick with your fingers. Once the tick has been removed, clean the area and wash your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap
It is important to properly dispose of the tick once it has been removed. The CDC advises any of the following methods for tick removal:
- Placing the tick in a sealed container
- Wrapping it securely in tape
- Flushing it down the toilet
- Putting the tick in rubbing alcohol
You can report your tick experience to reSpotter, to identify the tick species and learn more about tick safety
Once you have removed the tick, do a thorough check of your clothes and body for other ticks
Lyme disease symptoms
Lyme disease can present symptoms days or months after you are bitten by an infected tick, according to the CDC. Early symptoms typically show up in three to 30 days and include a rash, often in the shape of a bull’s-eye, fever, chills, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, joint pain and swollen lymph nodes.
If Lyme disease goes untreated, symptoms can present days to months after a tick bite. Later signs of Lyme disease include severe headaches, multiple rashes across the body, droop on one or both sides of the face, muscle, joint, tendon and bone pain and other serious symptoms. See a full list of possible Lyme disease symptoms on the CDC website
The CDC advises seeking medical attention if you experience any of the symptoms mentioned above and have recently been bitten by a tick, or live in or have recently traveled to an area where Lyme disease is common
How Lyme disease spreads
There are two species of ticks in the U.S. that can carry Lyme disease, the black-legged tick, commonly known as the deer tick, and the western black-legged tick. If you are bitten by a tick, experts recommend identifying the species of tick to know whether you are at risk of contracting a tick-borne illness
There are many other tick species across the U.S. that do not carry Lyme disease, but can carry other tick-borne illnesses. The black-legged tick, lone star tick and dog tick commonly bite humans, but they are not the only species that do
Adult deer ticks are most prevalent in the spring and fall, while nymphal deer ticks are more common in the summer months. Nymphal ticks especially pose a risk when it comes to Lyme disease, because they are about the size of a poppy seed and difficult to spot
Ticks that can carry Lyme disease are present on the West Coast and across the eastern U.S., but case rates tend to be low in western states. Deer ticks in the Southeast rarely carry Lyme disease, according to the CDC
Since the 1980s, deer tick populations have expanded across the U.S a similar pattern is unfolding with the lone star tick
“We’re starting to see more of it in the Northeast than we had. The lone star tick is generally a southern tick. It’s been able to move up because of climate change,” said Daniels
The lone star tick is infamous for its ability to spread Alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to alpha-gal, which can be found in red meat
