Here Are The Biting Ticks In NJ: Very High Number Of Lyme Cases

As the weather warms, trees grow and flowers bloom, a lurking menace lies in wait, ready to claim its next victim. This creature is like a snake in the grass, only worse — it has eight legs, latches onto flesh and survives by eating blood.

We’re talking, of course, about ticks, and there are plenty of them in New Jersey. Too many, in fact. Indeed, the state has the second highest number of Lyme cases in the country.

Many different species of these tiny arachnids are found all over the globe, but only a few of them bite and transmit diseases: the American dog tick, the blacklegged tick (also known as a deer tick), the brown dog tick, the Gulf Coast tick, the lone star tick and the western blacklegged tick.

New Jersey is home to at least four of them, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• American dog tick
  • Diseases transmitted: Tularemia and Rocky mountain spotted fever.
• Blacklegged tick
  • Diseases transmitted: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and others
• Brown dog tick
  • Diseases transmitted: Rocky mountain spotted fever
• Lone Star tick
• Diseases transmitted: Heartland virus, tularemia and others

Every year, about 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC by state health departments. In 2017, however, there were more than 42,000 confirmed and probable cases of Lyme reported to federal health officials. That includes 3,629 confirmed cases in New Jersey and 1463 probable cases.

And the actual number could be far higher, with recent estimates suggesting that about 300,000 Americans may get Lyme disease every year, the CDC said.

The problem is so bad in New Jersey that a Rutgers-led team has recommended tick surveillance across the state since rainy weather could cause a surge.

Here are other points of caution that both the CDC and Rutgers University have given about ticks in the New Jersey, and where they may be lurking:

• Overall, 11 species of ticks – nine native and two invasive – have been confirmed in New Jersey based on specimens in museums and other collections.
• The Asian tick was confirmed in a number of New Jersey counties last year. The invasive species congregates in large numbers and can cause anemia in livestock, officials with the state Department of Agriculture said.
• But cattle, pets, small mammals, birds and humans are all potential hosts. This type of tick is a "serious" pest to livestock, as well as wildlife, pets and humans, authorities in New Jersey said at the time the tick was first discovered there.
• This species can carry several bacterial and viral diseases, and has been associated with spotted fever rickettsioses, health officials said. Read more: Rare, Dangerous Tick Species Now Confirmed In Several NJ Counties
• Besides the 11, five other species of ticks have been reported in the Garden State, but there are no verified specimens in collections. Still, these species have been found in states within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of New Jersey and may be confirmed here in the future.
• Two other species, including the Gulf Coast tick, are expanding their range northward and, the authors predict, may eventually arrive in New Jersey, according to the release.

"As far as we know, no other state in the Northeast has done the 'due diligence' of tracking down archived specimens of each tick species collected in the state," said senior author Dina M. Fonseca, a professor and director of the Center for Vector Biology in the Department Entomology at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

When ticks hatch from eggs, they have to “eat blood at every stage to survive,” according to the CDC. They range in size from less than one-eighth of an inch up to about five-eighth of an inch. And they find their hosts like a highly skilled assassin, detecting breath, body odor, body heat, moisture and vibration.

“Some species can even recognize a shadow,” the CDC wrote. “In addition, ticks pick a place to wait by identifying well-used paths. Then they wait for a host, resting on the tips of grasses and shrubs.”

Once on the skin, the tick inserts its feeding tube, which sometimes has barbs to keep the bug in place. Many species also secrete a cement-like substance to keep them firmly attached.

Dog-owners and most people who grew up in tick hotbeds know how dangerous they can be. Lyme disease, for one, is transmitted by the blacklegged tick in the Northeast and northern Midwest, as well as the western blacklegged tick along the Pacific coast. A recent study found that nearly half of all U.S. counties now have ticks that can spread Lyme.

But ticks can also transmit a bevy of other diseases to humans and animals. Tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, for example, can be deadly. Anaplasmosis and Borrelia miyamotoi, meanwhile, can leave you with a fever, chills and a headache.

As with any health problem, prevention should be your first line of defense. The CDC recommends treating your clothing, shoes and camping gear with permethrin. You can apply a bug repellent that’s registered by the Environmental Protection Agency and should avoid wooded or bushy areas with high grass and leaves. Moreover, you should always check clothing and animals when going back indoors and shower soon thereafter. Ticks are known to be found under the arms, in and around ears, in the belly button, groin area, back of the knees and even around the hair.

If you find a tick, remove it as soon as possible using fine-tipped tweezers. Make sure to pull straight up with steady, even pressure to ensure part of the tick doesn’t break off in the skin. Once it’s out, clean the bite area with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.