Top, from left: The blacklegged or deer tick and American dog tick; bottom, from left: lone star tick and Asian longhorned tick

Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images; CDC

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Of the thousands of ticks collected across Connecticut last year, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station says blacklegged ticks- also known as deer ticks- were the most common.

However, two emerging species- lone star ticks and long horned ticks- were found in Fairfield, New London, Middlesex, and New Haven counties. In 2019, they were only detected in two counties- New London and Fairfield.

The Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases at CAES released their findings on Monday, after more than 4,000 ticks were collected from 40 publicly-accessible locations across the state during the spring, summer and fall months of 2024.

“We have great habitat, we have great host species, different wildlife species, but the winters aren’t quite tapering them off as they would normally,” explained Dr. Megan Linske, a vector ecologist at the Agricultural Experiment Station. “So, we’re seeing more and more of them on the landscape and in multiple different counties, as well.”

New London County reported the highest average adult blacklegged tick density, with 83 per acre. The county also saw the highest average nymphal blacklegged tick density at 25 per acre.

The highest adult female infection prevalence was found in Litchfield County- at 65%- and the highest nymphal infection prevalence was found in Fairfield County- at 41%.

The ticks were tested for five human disease-causing pathogens, including anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis), babesia microti (babesiosis), borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), borrelia miyamotoi (hard tick relapsing fever), and Powassan virus (powassan encephalitis).

The results of those tests were reported as follows:

Linske said this winter was cold, but not cold enough to kill off non-native ticks. Fortunately, those ticks do not pose much of a threat to us, but the established deer tick, or black-legged tick, can give you Lyme disease.

“The nymphal stage, this is the stage that comes out May, June, maybe a little bit into July, they’re about 20 to 30% infection prevalence with the  agent or the pathogen that causes Lyme disease,” Linske said.

In the adult ticks we see the rest of the year, more than half can give you Lyme disease.

It is not quite shorts weather, and you are probably not going camping or for long hikes in the woods. You may be starting to clean up the yard, however. Dr. Linske said that’s when you’re most likely to get bit.

“Go enjoy the outdoors, but understand that when you go into your backyard and you’re dumping leaves out in that woodland edge, that’s probably when you’re going to encounter them,” she said. “You could even be going to your mailbox and run into a couple along the way.”

To reduce the risk of exposure to tick bites, residents are urged to:

  • Stay on established trails and avoid bushy or wooded areas.
  • Conduct routine tick checks after outdoor activities.
  • Wear long sleeves, pants, and light-colored, tightly woven clothing.
  • Tuck pant legs into socks when hiking in tick habitat.
  • Wear permethrin-treated clothing to repel and kill ticks.

“The best preventative measure we have is tick checks,” Linske said. “That’s for yourself, your children, your pets, anybody that goes outside.”

If you do find one on you, remove it with tweezers and ask your doctor if you should get it tested.

Republished courtesy of Nexstar Media Inc., WTNH Channel 8 News: https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/invasive-tick-spreads-across-more-connecticut-counties/