In 2021, the United States approved the use of a vaccine called TICOVAC or TicoVac for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). People in Europe have been using this vaccine effectively for more than 20 years.
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While you are taking steps to protect yourself, your family, and your pets from ticks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other state and local agencies are gathering data to help inform and protect the public. Those agencies ensure facts are accurate to drive public policy decisions regarding these disease-transmitting pests.

What Is Tick Surveillance?

Tick surveillance is the scientific collection of ticks and tick-related environmental samples. Its goal is to identify all tick species in a specific area and test for tick-borne pathogens. Entomologists document, collect, and study the ticks and samples, and then they report the data to health agencies for analysis.

How Is Tick Surveillance Used?

Tick surveillance data monitors the presence and number of ticks in a specific area and follows how this information changes over time. It also documents infection levels in disease-carrying tick species.

Public health agencies use this information to make strategic decisions about tick control programs and resource allocation. Additionally, the data is used to communicate to the public the likelihood of encounters with pathogen-carrying ticks in the area of interest.

Tick surveillance programs do not monitor or report https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/lyme/tick-borne disease in human or veterinary patients; that data is gathered separately through state and local health departments. Personal identifiers are then removed, and information is shared with the CDC through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS).

Why Is Tick Surveillance Important?

It is critical to know where ticks are active to properly assess the risk of tick-borne diseases in humans and animals. Some illnesses, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, can be debilitating or fatal to humans.

How Accurate Is Tick Surveillance?

Like any scientific enterprise, the information resulting from tick surveillance experiences a lag between data collection and publication, and promulgation. Tick populations are constantly shifting and changing, so it is wise for residents of areas where ticks may be present to be vigilant.

Call East End Tick Control for Peace of Mind Protection

Call East End Tick Control® if you see ticks or suspect their presence on your property or home, call East End Tick Control®. We are Eastern Suffolk County’s most-experienced tick control company, providing the Twin Forks and East End with the most effective pest control treatments since 1997. Protect your family from disease-carrying ticks year-round by requesting a free estimate now or by calling our Southampton office at (631) 287-9700, our East Hampton office at (631) 324-9700, or our Southold office at (631) 765-9700.

While spring might not officially be here yet, it’s not too early to start checking for ticks. Conventional wisdom tells us that cold winter and lots of snow help kill off insects, including ticks. So it feels like we should be safe from the little critters as the snow melts and we start to see warmer temperatures, and sadly, that’s not necessarily the case.

Epidemiologists in Minnesota conducted a study a few years ago that showed heavy snowfalls might protect ticks from the frigid cold necessary to kill them. So when the snow melts, deer ticks might be very abundant.

But what do deer ticks in Minnesota have to do with ticks on Long Island? While the climate might not be the same, the principle is that the melting snow and warming temperatures might increase tick activity that people aren’t expecting.

As the snow melts and the temperatures increase, it’s more important than ever to check yourself, your family, and your pets for ticks after you’ve been outside. Tick activity is on the rise, even if it isn’t “tick season” just yet.

Are More Ticks Surviving Through Winter?

While there will be some variation year over year, the short answer is yes. Due to climate change and global warming, more ticks survive through winter leading to earlier tick seasons and more ticks.

A 2008 study discovered that climate change significantly influences the spread and population growth of ticks all over the world. In short, as we start seeing shorter winters, we’re also going to know a lot more ticks. Without frigid temperatures to kill them off, the tick population is just going to continue to look for people and animals to feed on.

Can Ticks Freeze to Death?

Yes, cold weather can help decrease the population of ticks, but it has to be colder than most people like and for a more extended period. The temperature must be below 10 degrees for multiple consecutive days for a significant die-off in ticks.

Worse yet, ticks like it when it’s wet, so melting snow is just about perfect for them. The temperature has to get above freezing for the snowmelt and ticks like humidity, and they prefer humidity at 85 percent or higher, so wet melting snow is good for them.

Are Ticks Harmful?

In addition to that creepy-crawly feeling that ticks bring, they can also be very dangerous to your family’s health and your pet’s health. In 2019, more than 8% of the ticks from Suffolk County submitted for testing at the SUNY Center contained some vector-borne pathogen. With the increasing number of ticks, the risk of infection also grows.

Call East End Tick Control® for Year-Round Tick Prevention

Are you looking for other ways to protect your family from ticks and the diseases they carry? Contact us to discuss mitigation options. East End Tick and Mosquito Control® is Suffolk County’s most-experienced pest control company. For more than 20 years, we have been using the most effective extermination methods to protect yourself and your family. Request a free estimate now or call our Southampton office at (631) 287-9700 , our East Hampton office at (631) 324-9700, or our Southold office at (631) 765-9700.