By Patti Casey, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
The VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets’ Environmental Surveillance Program has conducted tick surveillance for about a decade, and we’ve learned a lot. We have improved our surveillance techniques and figured out the best places to look for ticks and what the elevational cutoffs are for tick viability, we’ve hired additional field technicians, and we’ve added several programs to our surveillance efforts. Here is our most recent tick update.
2023 Vector Surveillance Update
The 2023 Vector Surveillance season was a busy one for us. Our stalwart team of 6 field staff spent more time than usual collecting ticks and mosquitoes and our lab staff were similarly taxed. We worked with the VT Dept of Health (VDH) Laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Ft Collins CO to test ticks and mosquitoes for pathogens.
Tick Surveillance -Vermont Department of Health Pathogen Prevalence Spring Tick Survey
Our Spring Tick Surveillance in partnership with VDH ran May 5 through June 21, 2023. These ticks are collected from 48 established sites statewide every spring. Specimens are counted, identified to species, and tested for 4 different pathogens that can cause Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, and Miyamotoi disease. Going forward, including those collected in 2023, the CDC will add testing for Ehrlichia spp and an additional Anaplasma strain.
Our 2023 tick numbers for VDH surveillance are:
- 1,257 Black-Legged Ticks
- 510 American Dog Ticks
- 1 Rabbit Tick (nymph)
- 1,768 ticks total
VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets’ Statewide Town Density Tick Survey
We continue to collect ticks from every Vermont town over a 5-year period (we’re currently in our second 5-year round), visiting 25-30 established sites each spring and fall to track population numbers, geographic expansion, and disease infection rates in ticks. Our 2023 spring season ran April 26 through June 22. We collected 122 Black-Legged Ticks and 39 American Dog Ticks. Black-Legged Ticks will be tested for 5 pathogens this winter (the 4 previously mentioned plus Powassan, or Deer-Tick Virus). Fall surveillance ran October 19 through November 16, 2023 and numbers are currently being tallied.
Fall Asian Long-Horned Tick Survey
We conducted a study in partnership with VT Fish & Wildlife to inspect harvested deer in southern Vermont for the Long-Horned Tick, a highly invasive tick species not yet reported in Vermont but which has been found in adjacent counties in New York and Massachusetts and that is expanding their territory rapidly throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions. Long-Horned Ticks are a wildlife and livestock pest of significance. We found none on the deer we inspected, but we did collect more than 1,000 Black-Legged Ticks that are being donated to the Tri-State Tick Project through the University of Vermont.
Passive Tick Surveillance Project
We welcome Vermonters to submit ticks they collect from themselves or their children and pets or the environment for identification to species, sex, life stage, and engorgement rate for assistance when communicating with their health care provider. We do not test these ticks for pathogens.
For more information, visit our website, and remember to practice personal protection against tick and mosquito bites:
- Cover up with long sleeves and pants, tuck pants into socks or wear gaiters
- Use an EPA-registered insect repellant or treat your clothing with permethrin
- Limit outdoor dawn and dusk activities when mosquitoes are active
- Put clothing in a dryer on high for 15 minutes, shower to remove crawling ticks after being outdoors
- Do a daily tick check
- Repair broken screens and remove all standing water from your property