Tick Alert Issued For NYC: Tick-Borne Sickness On The Rise, Health Officials Say

NEW YORK, NY — City officials issued a "health alert" Monday in response to a recent rise in tick-borne illnesses in the five boroughs. They also announced they'd be be tripling their fleet of "tick surveillance" stations throughout the city to 21 total sites this summer.

The health alert serves mainly as a warning to local hospitals to keep an eye out for classic tick-related diseases and symptoms as the tick season kicks into full gear, as well as an awareness campaign to keep New Yorkers vigilant as they tromp through city parks and nearby wilderness areas.

Want more local news? Sign up here to receive Patch's free morning newsletters and real-time alerts for your NYC neighborhood.

"Most patients in New York City become infected with Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases after traveling to surrounding areas, including Long Island and upstate New York," city officials said in the alert.

However, they said, "while most tick-borne diseases are acquired outside of the city, we have seen an increase in the number of Lyme disease cases throughout the five boroughs."

Lyme disease cases have nearly doubled in NYC over the past five years, city data shows. In 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 946 cases confirmed within city borders — up slightly from 941 cases the year before, and up significantly from 848 the year before that.

This was the borough-by-borough breakdown for Lyme cases in 2016, according to the city:

• 51 cases in the Bronx
• 123 cases on Staten Island
• 128 cases in Queens
• 322 cases in Brooklyn
• 322 cases in Manhattan

This year, NYC health officials are particularly concerned about the tick population on Staten Island — believed to be booming after a recent increase in the number of deer on the island.

Symptoms of Lyme disease include fevers, headaches, and skin rashes. The disease is normally transmitted by blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks (pictured at the top of this post).

But that's not the only nasty germ NYC-area ticks are carrying these days. There have also been dozens of Babesiosis parasites, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever cases recorded in the city in recent years. Government data shows most of them, like Lyme, are on the rise.

And although there were no human cases of Powassan virus recorded in NYC last year, one local tick — in the Bronx — did positive for the virus for the first time ever.

There's also a horrifying new mystery disease reportedly being passed around New York by the lone star tick, pictured below — a disease which will, no joke, give you a lifelong allergy to red meat. There have already been more than 100 cases of the allergy reported on Long Island in the past year, according to Wired.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lone star tick originated in the southeast U.S. — but its population has grown significantly in "distribution, range and abundance" over the past few decades, and has spread to the state of New York.

"Lone star ticks have been recorded in large numbers as far north as Maine and as far west as central Texas and Oklahoma," the CDC's website says. "All three life stages (larva, nymph, adult) of the lone star tick will feed on humans, and may be quite aggressive. Lone star ticks will also feed readily on other animals, including dogs and cats, and may be brought into the home on pets."

By 2011, lone star ticks had already gotten this far north, according to the CDC:

(We've reached out to city, state and federal health officials for more info on the lone star tick and the mysterious meat allergy it's spreading. We'll update this post when they get back to us — so check back.)

Keen on avoiding such a fate? Here are some tips (and a how-to video) on warding off nature's stealthiest vampires, courtesy of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene:

• Stay on cleared paths and hiking trails when walking in heavily wooded areas.

• Wear light-colored, Permethrin-treated clothing to allow you to better see ticks that crawl on your clothing. Wear long-sleeved shirts and tuck your pant legs into your socks so that ticks cannot crawl up the inside of your pant legs.

• Apply repellents containing DEET to prevent ticks from attaching.

• Check for ticks on your body and clothing after returning from wooded, brushy, or tall, grassy areas and remove any ticks you find on you, your child or your pet.

• Keep in mind that young ticks are very small (about the size of a poppy seed), so seek help to inspect not easily reachable areas. Be sure to look carefully in areas of the body where hair is present, since it may make it difficult to see the ticks. Adult ticks are about the size of an apple seed.

• Shower after being in an area with ticks, and promptly put clothes in a dryer on high heat to kill ticks.

• Speak to your vet about tick prevention products for your pet dogs and cats.

• Remove leaf litter and debris to reduce the likelihood of ticks around the home.

• If you get a rash or a fever, let the doctor know if you may have been exposed to ticks, even if you don't remember having a tick bite.

Photos courtesy of the CDC