Tick season is starting earlier and moving faster than many doctors expect, and federal health officials are urging people to protect themselves from ticks now, before the busiest spring and early summer months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an early public advisory this week as clinicians and public-health experts pointed to early patterns showing more bites than usual.
Dr. Alina Filozov, an infectious disease doctor at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut, said: “If you have a lot of exposures, there will probably be more cases of tick-related infections.” Her comment reflects a basic link experts expect to see when people encounter ticks more often—more opportunities for bites, and therefore more risk of infections tied to those bites.
CDC Lyme disease expert Alison Hinckley said: “the data are telling us now is the time to take action,” adding that “Ticks are out and people are getting bitten.” Tick bites typically spike in May, but Hinckley’s point underscores that the season may already be at a more advanced stage than usual.
Several public-health researchers emphasized that early tick-bite signals do not automatically translate into an immediate, confirmed surge in Lyme disease or other illnesses. They noted that current emergency-department data are incomplete because most emergency departments report to the CDC’s surveillance system, but it does not capture people who did not seek hospital care. They also said that systematic tick sampling by researchers takes time, and that not every bite results in infection.
The CDC’s tracking system indicates that weekly emergency-room visits for tick bites are running at their highest levels for this time of year since 2017, in all regions of the country except the south-central United States. Experts said it will take months for researchers to chart how tick populations are changing and for clinicians and public-health officials to determine whether infection rates are actually rising alongside bite reports.
Tick-borne risk can come from multiple illnesses, experts said. Ticks are small, eight-legged bloodsucking parasites that are arachnids rather than insects, and their populations vary through the year. Climate change is widely believed to affect tick activity by promoting warm, humid conditions after mild winters, and experts also cited the availability of deer and mice as potential factors. Some ticks carry germs that can cause serious diseases, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and alpha-gal syndrome, which is associated with a red-meat allergy; Lyme disease is the most common, and experts said it is commonly treated with antibiotics.
So far this year, experts said the Northeast has seen mostly large adult ticks, with juvenile nymphs expected to become more common in the weeks ahead. Experts said nymph emergence, along with more people spending time outdoors, helps explain why bites often peak in May. They also warned that nymphs—tiny ticks attached to people—can be harder to see and may remain unnoticed longer, increasing infection risk.
Connecticut, which is closely linked to Lyme disease—named after a town there—has emerged as a hot spot earlier than expected. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station reported earlier this month that residents were already submitting an average of 30 ticks per day for testing, and state officials said 40% of the submitted ticks tested positive for the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Scott Williams, a tick researcher at the experiment station, said unusually high numbers of mice in the last two years have helped tick populations expand. Megan Linske, a wildlife biologist with the same agency, said: “All we have so far is an early snapshot,” and she expects the problem to continue worsening as more ticks spread over more areas.
Public health guidance for avoiding bites focuses on behavior and protective clothing. Experts advised people who go outdoors to watch for wooded areas and grassy properties that bleed into wooded edges, since ticks tend to perch on ankle-level vegetation with their upper legs outstretched. They also recommended walking in the middle of paths, wearing light-colored clothing treated with permethrin, and using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents.
If a tick is found, experts advised removing it immediately and monitoring for symptoms. They said it is not necessary to go to a doctor unless a person believes the tick may have been attached for days or develops a rash or other symptoms.