Is it Long Island's worst tick season ever? How experts measure the problem.

Key Points:

• Long Island residents are experiencing what many describe as one of the worst tick seasons ever, with increased encounters attributed to factors such as a mild winter, growing deer populations, and the emergence of more aggressive tick species.
• Experts note that tick populations fluctuate yearly due to weather, hosts, and breeding success, making it difficult to definitively label any single year as the worst, though there is consensus that tick numbers are currently high.
• The lone star tick has become the dominant species on Long Island, known for its aggressive behavior and association with diseases like tularemia, Bourbon virus, and alpha-gal syndrome, a meat allergy triggered by its bite.
• State surveillance assigns Long Island a high tick risk score of 3.31, the highest in New York, but emphasizes that risk can vary greatly even within small areas, advising residents to always take precautions against tick bites.
• Increased public awareness is partly due to reports of rare tick-borne illnesses and the lone star tick’s aggressive nature, with emergency room visits for tick bites rising nationally and concerns growing over the tick’s ability to alter immune responses and trigger allergies.