Could 2019 Be the Hudson Valley’s Worst Tick Season Ever?
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts a severe tick season.
The CDC is warning that the 2019 tick season could be a severe tick season. According to CBS News, the number of cases of tick-borne illnesses has tripled. A representative from the CDC called Lyme disease an epidemic.
PestWorld.org claims that this could be the worst tick season in years. They claim that it is the perfect set of conditions to have a skyrocketing tick population. The big things they examine are acorns and winter. In 2010 there was a large acorn crop, which led to a rise in the white-footed mouse population since that's their food source. The white-footed mouse is often a carrier of ticks. We also had a relatively mild winter for 2018-2019, allowing mice and insects to thrive during the season.
Today reports that within the Hudson Valley, there was the largest mouse population rise in 2016 in 25 years. Because of that, there was a spike in infected nymph stage ticks. 2017 was also a massive year for Lyme disease in the Hudson Valley. New York State is one of the 14 states where 95% of Lyme disease cases in 2015 came from, according to CBS News.