Long Island Posts New York’s Highest 3.31 Tick Risk Score as Lone Star Ticks Dominate
Updated
Updated · Newsday · Aug 17
Long Island Posts New York’s Highest 3.31 Tick Risk Score as Lone Star Ticks Dominate
2 articles · Updated · Newsday · Aug 17
Summary
Long Island now carries New York’s highest state tick risk score at 3.31, even as experts say no one can reliably declare 2026 the area’s worst tick year.
The concern is being driven less by a measured population count than by aggressive lone star ticks, winter snow that helped ticks survive, and a growing deer population that supports their spread.
Lone star ticks have become the dominant local species and are tied to alpha-gal syndrome, tularemia, Bourbon virus and Heartland virus; one researcher said submissions shifted from a 1-to-1 ratio with blacklegged ticks in 2014 to 6-to-1 by 2024.
Doctors and wildlife workers say the shift is changing what people notice: Stony Brook specialists report more lone-star-linked infections and fewer deer-tick infections, while a Smithtown rehab center called this season its worst yet for tick-infested animals.
State officials caution that tick density and infection rates can vary sharply within small areas, but say one infected bite can still cause illness, reinforcing advice to take precautions regardless of the score.