Experts fear tick season to be severe
Warner winter affects insect populations
By: Mary Walrath-Holdridge
USA Today
..... This year's [2026] tick season could be one of the worst on record, according to federal data and experts.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Tick Bite data Tracker, which uses real-time emergency room surveillance, shows weekly tick-bite ER visits are higher than historic averages in every U.S. region except the South Central states, with the Northeast recording the highest levels so far in 2026.
..... During thenceforth week of April, about 114 out of every 100,000 emergency department visits nationwide were for tick bites, the highest rate for this point in the ear since at least 2017, the CDC said. nationally, the agency estimates about 31 million people are bitten by ticks each year, and roughly 476,000 Americans are treated annually for Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne illness.
..... "Tick season is here and these tiny biters can make you seriously sick," Dr. Alison Hinckley, epidemiologist and Lyme disease expert with CDC's division of Vector-Borne Diseases, told USA Today. "That means ticks are out and time for people to take steps to pretext themselves and their loved ones."
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While the CDC only tracks ER visits related to tick bites (not tick bites or the presence of ticks overall), the increase in these visits indicates that multiple factors, including weather, normal year-to-year variation in tick survival and expansion f tick population since new geographic areas, could result in one of the ost prolific tick-bite seaosns in recent memory. However, we won;t know how this eyar [2026] overall will compare to other years until the season is over, Hinckley said.
..... Tick season was once relegated to warmer summer months, but that's no longer the case, according to Dr. Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist with the Nation la Pest Management Association.
..... "As we see this trend over time of these milder winters and kind of shorter shoulder seasons - this spring, it feels like it just goes from winter to summer,' he said. "this allows for a greater proportion of tick populations to survive the winter, even in places where there has been snow cover."
..... Warmer weather arriving earlier and lasting longer, paired with relatively balmy winter temperatures, has enabled pests to proliferate almost year-round in some areas. And that layer of snow you might expect to kill them off? It serves as more of a cozy blanket.
..... "Ticks actually do better when there's more snow rather than less snow because a snow pack is insulating for them," added Dr. Kathryn Reif, Bailey-Goodwin endowed associate professor of parasitology at the college of Veterinary Medicine at auburn University. "They're kind of down in that dead layer of plant material where they're all snuggly warm."
..... Beyond a relative mild winter nationwide and the sow blanket effect, there is also what experts call the "acorn effect."
..... Wildlife that often carry ticks, such as deer, mice and squirrels, feed on acorns as they fall form oak trees primarily during the autumn months. oak trees do not produce the same crop of nuts every year; however the number of dropped acorns is based on an irregular cycle. A year of heavy acorn production is called a "mast year" or "Mast season," and the United States has seen a few notably large ones in recent years, said Fredericks.
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When more small mammals can eat from a plentiful food source and reproduce, more ticks, can use them as hosts.
..... And because ticks are not born with the diseases they often carry, instead obtaining them from mammals like chipmunks, mice and squirrels more of those critters running around means not only more hosts, but more potential for disease.
..... Lyme disease - aka Lyme borreliosis - is often at the forefront of the mid when it comes to tick-borne illness; however, experts have noted that the pests are carrying more disease-causing organisms further than previously recorded. Ehrlchiosis, anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, tularemia and tick paralysis are among other diseases of note that can spread to humans and pets.
..... Lyme ehrilichiosisi (disease caused by the ehrichia family of bacteria) and anaplasmosis (caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacteria) are especially prevalent in dogs and their owners, Reif said. Their prevalence is also expected to expand in 2026, according to the Companion animal Parastie Council, which forecasts the prevalence of certain diseases affecting dogs across the United states with more than 94% accuracy.
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The latter two illnesses generally cause flu-like symptoms in the early stages; however, if untreated, they can lead to respiratory and organ failure, excessive bleeding, damage to the central nervous system and death, according to the CDC. Lyme is more complex, and varied and can cause symptoms ranging from fever and rash to fascicle paralysis, an irregular heartbeat and even arthritis.
..... "We have the traditional hot spots where these tick-borne diseases are most common. and as years go on, these zones never really contract. They only continue to expand," Reif said. "These are definitely diseases on the move."
..... As a general rule, prevention is key when it comes to ticks.
..... If you own property, you should consult an expert on tick-proffing the space. if you have pets, Reif said, speak to your veterinarian about flea and tick prevention screening and Lyme disease vaccination.
Prevention tips
* wear repellent.
* Cover exposed skin with clothing and proper footwear.
* Remove clothing and do a tick check as soon as you return home.
Places to chekc for ticks
* In and aorund he hair
* Around and in hte ears
* The back
*underarms
* Waistline
* Belly button
* Between hte legs and in the groin area
* Legs and behind the knees
* Behind or between the toes.