So far this year, two people in rural communities have died as a result of tick bites.
Experts say this year, like so many years over the past decade, ticks are a growing problem – something rural residents need to be on the lookout for.
According to Tim McDermott, with Ohio State University Extension, the number of tick species that can cause illness, as well as the number of ticks in general, has been increasing every year for the past decade.
“Generally, I go into every year thinking it’s going to be a big year for ticks because we have usually seen ticks expand into new host ranges over time,” he said in an interview. “I never assume it’s going to be an easy year for ticks.”
Part of the increase is attributable to climate change, he said. Warmer climates are causing tick habitats to expand, meaning tick populations expand as well.
“They take advantage of what they can take advantage of to move to new spaces,” he said. “So now, every year going forward has the potential to be bad, and you should go into each tick season thinking about how you can keep you and your family tick-safe.”
(The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides more information about ticks and diseases linked to tick bites, including alpha-gal syndrome.)
The number of species that are medically important is expanding too, he said. About 20 years ago, he said, there was only one tick species, the deer tick, in Ohio that could potentially make you sick.
“We have five now and they can be active all year round,” he said. “So, when we used to talk about how April through September would be the season where ticks would be the most active, now you can still encounter a tick in December or January.”
And those ticks aren’t just relegated to the woods anymore, he said.
“There’s a myth that ticks just exist in the woods because ticks can exist in pretty much any habitat,” he said. “Some ticks like the American dog tick or the Gulf Coast tick, which we now have in Ohio, would be able to exist in a little more open habitat like a pasture, or hay field, or a meadow or even your backyard lawn.”
The percentage of those ticks carrying diseases is also increasing, he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ticks not only carry Lyme Disease, but can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and other viruses that can make humans ill.
