Emergency department visits for tick bites are on the rise across several regions of the US, signaling that America’s tick problem is getting worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ED tick-bite visits have reached their highest level nationwide in nearly a decade, with 71 visits per 100,000 people \u2014 more than double the average of about 30 per 100,000 for this time of year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New data updated April 12 show the Northeast now has the highest rate per population – at 163\u00a0tick-related ED visits<\/a> per 100,000 people, up from just 52 in March.\u00a0That already outpaces recent full-year highs in the region, which ranged from 74 to 89 per 100,000 between 2021 and 2025.<\/p>\n When it comes to hospital visit rates – the Northeast also currently leads the nation with 25 emergency visits for tick bites per 100,000 hospital trips.<\/p>\n This is followed by the Midwest with 19 ED visits per 100,000 hospital trips; the Southeast has with 14 visits per 100,000 trips; the West is third with 13 visits per 100,000 trip; and South Central has five visits per 100,000 trips.<\/p>\n Ticks are tiny but dangerous. The blood-sucking arachnids cause 90 percent of all vector-borne diseases in the US, according to the CDC<\/a>\u00a0– and the list of diseases they carry is long.<\/p>\n It includes Lyme disease in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest; Rocky Mountain spotted fever everywhere; anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis in the East and South; Powassan virus in the Northeast<\/a>\u00a0and Great Lakes; and babesiosis in the Northeast and upper Midwest.<\/p>\n Most tick-borne diseases start with fever, chills, headache and fatigue \u2014 but untreated, they can be devastating.\u00a0<\/p>\n ED tick-bite visits have reached their highest level nationwide in nearly a decade, with 71 visits per 100,000 people \u2014 more than double the average of about 30 per 100,000 for this time of year (stock)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"ED](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/04\/17\/19\/107976753-15742757-The_Northeast_leads_the_nation_in_tick_bite_ED_visits_with_25_pe-a-11_1776452361652.jpg\")
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