By: Follow South Jersey
SOUTH JERSEY – New Jersey’s tick season is here, and tick experts are urging residents to be extra vigilant against the rising rate of tick-borne illnesses.
According to the CDC, the number of emergency department (ED) visits per week due to tick bites in 2026 has been higher than normal. This is especially true in the Northeastern region of the United States, with 94 out of every 100,000 recorded ED visits for tick bites in 2026.
Professor Alvaro Toledo, who studies tick-borne pathogens at Rutgers University, says the increasing tick population, especially black-legged or lone star ticks, is nothing new.
“Increasing tick population or activity is a trend that we have observed for the past 40 years,” Toledo says.
Toledo says that not all states have statewide tick surveillance, so he and other tick researchers can’t closely monitor the exact percentage of tick population increase per year. However, contractions of tick-borne diseases get reported, so researchers can observe the number of cases each year.
“What we have seen is an increase in the number of diseases,” says Toledo. “Which is likely because of a sum of different factors. It is probably because there are more ticks, so more people are exposed, more bites, and therefore more cases.”
While tick bites are always something to look out for, not all bites result in illness. This year poses a higher threat of contracting tick-borne diseases, including Lyme disease, Alpha-gal syndrome, and anaplasmosis due to an increased population of infected Lone Star and Blacklegged (Deer) ticks.
Toledo stated that there are many contributing factors to rising tick populations, including changes in landscape management over the years. If a section of forest is left untouched and not managed, that can facilitate the presence of bushes and tall grasses. These provide shelter and food for rodents, which are one of several eligible tick hosts.
However, deer have been the main driver of increasing tick population.
“Another one of the main hosts for ticks that are associated with the transmission of human diseases is deer,” Toledo said. “We barely control deer. There are no natural enemies for deer. We rely on hunting season to control their population. If you don’t control deer, that has a profound influence on the number of ticks over time.”
While the huge population of hosts has contributed to rising populations in ticks that spread disease, climate change and milder conditions have also made it easier for tick larvae to survive the winter and spring. This means that by late spring and early summer, tick larvae will have reached nymph stage, which is the stage that is responsible for the majority of disease transmission to humans.
“One of the reasons early summer is a problematic season is because nymphs are present, small and hard to detect,” Toledo says. “Typically when it’s warm, people use shorts and t-shirts. There’s much more real estate to attach, so people are kind of ready to be outside and then that helps infections spread.”
According to Toledo, New Jersey is the perfect place for ticks to expand their population due to our massive deer population, the general climate, and the many forest areas throughout the state, such as the pine barrens.
Getting bitten doesn’t always mean disaster, though. According to Toledo, tick bites that are noticed and properly removed within a day, can reduce chances of contracting Lyme or other tick-borne pathogens.
Toledo says proper removal of a tick involves using flat tip tweezers and pulling straight up so as to not leave any parts of the tick, like its mouth, still embedded in the skin. Disinfect the bite after removal. If a person starts showing symptoms, they should immediately go to the hospital.
Taking measures to prevent a tick from biting in the first place also lowers the risk of contracting disease.
“Personal protection starts with repellents,” Toledo said. “You can treat your clothes with insecticide, or if you’re going to apply it on your skin, you can use regular repellents.”
Wearing bright colors, longer sleeves, and staying vigilant about reapplying repellent will help fend off risk of disease. However, Toledo says that ticks aren’t going anywhere, and the population of ticks and rate of disease transmission to humans in the United States may get worse in the coming years. For New Jerseyans, they’re already experiencing abnormally high tick populations.
“There will likely be an increase in numbers of reported cases of tick-borne diseases per year,” says Toledo. “I don’t expect the situation in New Jersey to change dramatically, but the situation in New Jersey is one of the worst situations in the entire country… It’s not that we are safe, but we are in such a bad spot that it’s really difficult to get any worse.”
There are solutions to this growing problem, though. Managing deer populations more efficiently and investing more money into research on ticks would help decrease populations and spread of disease.
“You need to articulate a statewide tick program,” Toledo said. “That will likely help in reducing the impact of tick-borne diseases in people. But you need to articulate that with consistent funding and strategies to prepare to lower the number of ticks. It’s something that is doable.”
- The Reel Thing Club Discovers the Real Things About Film!
- Intense Tick Seasons Will Continue in NJ Because of This Reason…
- Butterfly Festival and Old-Fashioned Picnic are Back in Gloucester County!
Follow South Jersey provides local journalism which highlights our diverse communities; fosters transparency through robust, localized, and vital reporting that holds leaders and institutions accountable; addresses critical information needs; supports people in navigating civic life; and equips people with the information necessary to partake in effective community engagement. If there is a story or event you think we should cover, please send your tips to news@followsouthjersey.com with “NEWS” in the subject line.
