Putnam Health Officials: Tick season is coming!

BREWSTER, N.Y.—Despite prolonged stretches of frigid cold weather this winter, tick season and ticks will soon be very active again. The number of ticks varies from year to year, but freezing temperatures do not kill them. They lie dormant in winter by finding shelter under leaf litter and in the spaces between soil particles, where they can survive more easily.

“New York State is consistently among the states with the highest incidence of tickborne disease in the nation, and the Hudson Valley region has some of the highest rates in the state,” said Alison Kaufman, DVM, MPH, epidemiologist at the Putnam County Department of Health.

The chance of contracting a tickborne disease is directly related to the likelihood of encountering an infected tick, as shown on the New York State Department of Health’s Tick Risk Score by Region webpage. Tracking tick populations by region, along with the proportion of ticks that test positive for at least one pathogen, the state assigns a “tick risk score” by region. This analysis places the Hudson Valley in the high-risk category along with the Catskills, Greater Niagara and Capital-Saratoga regions—behind the Finger Lakes region, which has the highest risk score in the state.

Most people are familiar with Lyme disease because it is the most common tickborne disease. However, two other tickborne diseases, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, also occur regularly in Putnam County. “Reported cases of tickborne disease tend to see-saw from one year to the next due to a variety of ecological variables, but on average there are about 300 Lyme cases reported each year in the county,” Kaufman said. “There is much more year-to-year variability for anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Reported cases have tended to spike recently in alternate years, with the highest counts on record seen in 2023—95 cases of anaplasmosis and 60 cases of babesiosis. We had much lower incidence in 2024, with only 29 cases of anaplasmosis and 16 cases of babesiosis. That may mean that we are in for another high-incidence year in 2025, but there is no way to know for sure.”

The number of ticks fluctuates from year to year as well. Ecological factors—including the abundance of acorns that feed the mice carrying juvenile ticks—and weather patterns impact tick survival. It is suspected that changing climates have increased the geographic range of ticks and the diseases they carry. Human behavior, the one factor we can control, also has a direct influence on the number of bites.

“Ticks are most likely to transmit disease to humans as juveniles, called nymphs, because they are so tiny that people often don’t notice they have been bitten,” Kaufman said. “The biggest threat is in late spring to mid-summer, roughly from mid-May to mid-August, when nymphs are active and people are spending more time outdoors. Adult ticks emerge and become active in the fall. They do survive the winter, so it is possible to be bitten by a tick year-round, with hunters and other winter recreational participants at risk.”

Last year, to broaden education efforts, the Putnam County Department of Health launched a dedicated Lyme Disease and Other Tickborne Illnesses webpage, complete with easy-to-understand videos in English and Spanish. Preventing tick bites is the focus of primary prevention for all tickborne illnesses.

There is no single strategy that prevents all tick bites, so it’s best to use several approaches to reduce risk as much as possible. Being informed and avoiding areas where ticks are common is advisable, though not always possible. Wearing protective clothing and using appropriate repellents properly goes a long way toward reducing risk, but even with repellent, checking frequently for ticks and removing them promptly and correctly is important. Recognizing symptoms of infection is also crucial so that treatment can begin early.

To alert residents and visitors to popular locations where ticks are likely, the health department and the county’s parks and recreation department have posted more than 75 warning signs along the Putnam Trailway and at other recreational areas, including at all Putnam sleep-away camps.

Michael J. Nesheiwat, M.D., the outgoing interim commissioner of the health department, advised, “If you start feeling feverish or have chills, aches or pains, or if you develop a skin rash, it is possible you have been bitten by a tick and contracted a tickborne disease. You should visit your health care provider as soon as possible. They can decide on the best course of action for you.”

The mission of the Putnam County Department of Health is to improve and protect the health of the Putnam County community. The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board through 2029, serves a community of nearly 100,000 residents. Core services are provided through a lens of equity and include community health assessment, disease surveillance and control, emergency preparedness, environmental health protection, family health promotion and health education. For more information, visit www.putnamcountyny.gov or follow Putnam HealthNY on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram.