London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Tick population expected to surge, and they’re carrying more than Lyme disease, researchers say

Tick population expected to surge, and they’re carrying more than Lyme disease, researchers say

Lyme disease is transmitted through tick bites, but researchers and educators warn that it’s not the only disease carried by the parasitic arachnids.

This year, the tick population is expected to surge due to a mild winter and early spring as well as abundant rainfall. Also, people who have been getting outdoors because of the coronavirus pandemic are encountering the insects more frequently.

The spring months mark the beginning of tick season. The prime months for ticks are March through June, with a peak in Lyme disease cases typically in June and July.

“All the ticks that tucker down underneath the leaf litter and snow are out seeking a host. So we have a combination in the springtime of many different types of ticks that are active,” said Nicole Chinnici, lab director at East Stroudsburg University Tick Diagnostic Testing.

Lyme disease is transmitted by black-legged ticks, or deer ticks, in the northeastern U.S. and upper midwestern U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The western black-legged tick transmits the disease along the Pacific coast.

While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S., it’s not the only one by far.

Some others listed by the CDC include babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, southern tick-associated rash illness, tick-borne relapsing fever and tularemia.

East Stroudsburg tests for 17 pathogens related to ticks.

“If you are a physician treating just for Lyme disease, you might not be reaching the underlying causing issue that’s caused by something else, and the treatment regimen may not be effective for that,” Chinnici said.

In Pennsylvania, the Pike County Tick-Borne Diseases Task Force recently did a baseline study spanning the county. Of the 1,000 black-legged ticks tested, 123 ticks tested positive for two or more diseases, with 38% of them testing positive for Lyme disease.

“Lyme disease in Pike County has been a crisis and we can call it almost a health-related issue for a number of years, and this is prior to anything with COVID,” said Chairman Matt Osterberg, Pike County Commissioners. “I was not aware of this six, seven, years ago until some members of the public came to us and said this is a real potential problem and we need to face this.”

Michigan is also seeing a surge in tick populations, reported sister station WOOD-TV. There are over 20 known tick species in the state, including the black-legged tick and the American dog tick, which causes Rocky Mountain fever.

Health experts say if you spend time outside, it’s important to look closely for ticks since the insects can be incredibly small — sometimes the size of a pinhead. Also, they suggest wearing light-colored clothes to make spotting ticks easier and applying insect repellent containing DEET.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
×