Why the headlines matter, what the early data tell us, and why surveillance is essential.
Ticks are making headlines in ways that reflect growing attention to tick-borne diseases. This summer, The New Yorker reported on “The Tick That Hunts Down Its Hosts – Including Us,” highlighting the expansion of the lone star tick and the growing impact of alpha-gal syndrome. The New York Times published “The Summer the Ticks Took Over,” and a guest essay, “We’re Living in a Tick Nightmare. It’s Time to Go to War,” both focused on heightened concerns about ticks, Lyme disease, and alpha-gal syndrome. The Atlantic called to “Kill the Ticks” and made the case for a broader public-health approach to controlling them.
For many people, these headlines resonate because they reflect what they are experiencing in their own lives. Those experiences are part of a much larger and more complex picture. Tick activity can vary considerably from one region to another and from year to year, making systemic data important for understanding how tick activity is changing.
Looking Beyond the Headlines
These recent headlines didn't come out of nowhere. In late April, the CDC reported that the weekly rate of emergency department visits for tick bites were higher than usual in many parts of the country. In most regions, April rates were the highest for that month since 2017. The Midwest stood out in particular, where the weekly rate of tick-bite-related ER visits in early spring was higher than in any previous year. Later in May, however, rates were higher in both 2017 and 2018 than they were this year. Overall, the data vary by region and week, making the national picture more nuanced than a single statistic.
The CDC report generated understandable attention, but the data require some context. These emergency department visits tell us about people seeking medical care after tick exposure, but they are not a direct measure of tick populations or disease risk. They do not tell us which tick species are involved, how abundant or widespread tick populations are, or how frequently they are carrying pathogens.
There are, however, signals from state-level surveillance efforts that suggest tick activity has been unusually high in some areas this year. In Connecticut, for example, more than 5,200 ticks were submitted to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station from January through July, nearly 40% more than scientists typically see during that period. These submissions provide a useful indicator of tick activity, but again, they are not a direct measure of the number of ticks in the environment.
So while the early-season data provide a meaningful signal that deserves attention, they are only one piece of a larger and still-developing picture of tick activity and tick-borne disease risk.
Measuring Tick Activity and Abundance
Tick activity and abundance can vary considerably from place to place and from year to year. A number of factors can influence where ticks survive and become established, including temperature and weather patterns, habitat and land use, and the availability of host animals such as deer, rodents, and birds. The availability of food that supports these animals can also influence where ticks thrive.
Capturing these changes requires ongoing surveillance. Researchers and public health programs collect and analyze tick data in locations across the country, but we currently don’t have a cohesive nationwide system that provides an easy, real-time picture of tick activity.
Unlike a weather app, tick surveillance requires having boots on the ground to collect ticks at specific locations, identify and test them, and track local weather, vegetation, and animal populations over time. These efforts take time and sustained funding and are not conducted uniformly across the country, so there can be a delay before we have a clearer picture of what is happening in a given year.
More comprehensive surveillance would help researchers and public health officials better understand where tick activity and populations are changing, where those changes are occurring, and where people may face greater exposure.
This need for tick surveillance and research infrastructure has already been recognized at the federal level. The Kay Hagan Tick Act, first enacted in 2019, provides federal support for Lyme and other tick-borne disease surveillance, research, training, and response efforts. Congress is now working to renew the law and continue this support.
It's Not Just Lyme Disease
Lyme disease may be the tick-borne disease most familiar to the public, but ticks can transmit pathogens that cause a range of other illnesses, including babesiosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and Powassan virus disease. Powassan virus has also received media attention in recent months, with coverage highlighting the increase in reported cases and the potential for severe illness.
Another tick-associated condition is alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy that can develop after a tick bite. It causes reactions to foods and other products containing alpha-gal, a molecule found in most mammals. In the United States, alpha-gal syndrome is most closely associated with bites from lone star ticks and may impact around 450,000 individuals. As lone star ticks become established in new areas, alpha-gal syndrome is an emerging public health concern that could affect more people in the future.
There is still much to learn about these tick-borne diseases and alpha-gal syndrome, but there are meaningful steps we can take to protect ourselves and our communities.
What You Can Do
Take proper tick prevention measures:
Use tick repellent when spending time outdoors, check yourself and your family for ticks after being outside, and check pets regularly as well. If you find an attached tick, remove it promptly. Learn how to Be Tick AWARE.
Spread awareness:
Help spread awareness about ticks and tick-borne disease by volunteering as a GLA Ambassador. They work together to teach the importance of tick prevention, collaborate with other organizations, and fundraise. Learn more here.
Donate to research:
There is still much we need to learn about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Support GLA’s research to help address critical gaps in our understanding and advance progress for people affected by tick-borne disease.
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