The tick situation this summer really is bad, Thomas Daniels, the director of the Louis Calder Center in Armonk, told The Times in this article.
The Fordham Tick Index, which gauges the risk of encountering ticks outdoors in the New York area, redlined last week.
It put the risk at 10 on its 10-point scale and added this advice: “If you’re thinking of taking a hike, consider going to a movie instead.”
The tick situation this summer really is that bad, said Thomas Daniels, the director of Louis Calder Center in Armonk, N.Y., a division of Fordham University.
Three types of ticks — deer ticks, lone star ticks and Asian longhorned ticks — have turned up on Staten Island and in the North Bronx. Another type, the Gulf Coast tick, has appeared only on Staten Island.
Yet another, the American dog tick, also known as the wood tick, has been found in all five boroughs.
Of the five, only the deer tick carries Lyme disease. But deer ticks can carry four other pathogens, Daniels said. The other types of ticks can also transmit diseases.
Ticks are so small that they travel almost incognito — the deer tick is about the size of a sesame seed — and some types of ticks are relative newcomers to the Northeast: Lone star ticks are pushing out from the South and have been found as far north as Canada.
That’s a concern in New York because the lone star tick and the dog tick “will run after you,” Daniels said. The deer tick does not do that, he said. It merely lies in wait until someone passes by. Then it latches on.
