Ticks Invade City Parks: Tips to Stay Safe

Quick Summary

• Ticks are increasingly spreading in U.S. cities, including New York City boroughs like Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn.
• Disease ecologist Maria Diuk-Wasser has documented a rise in tick populations over four years (ending 2021) and found ticks proliferating across more parks and backyards year after year.
• Tick species of concern include black-legged (deer), lone star, dog ticks, and longhorned ticks-some recently expanding to urban areas.
• Urban tick populations thrive due to several factors: reforestation around cities,increased host wildlife migration into urban spaces (e.g., deer entering Staten Island from New Jersey), reduced predators for hosts like deer/mice due to hunting restrictions, and the effects of climate change like warmer winters prolonging tick activity.
• Some city greenspaces now match rural forests in the prevalence of Lyme-disease-infected ticks; certain urban parks report 20-30% infection rates in juvenile ticks (“nymphs”).
• Recommendations include using DEET repellents, permethrin-treated clothing when visiting wooded or edge environments in cities-especially near high grass where ticks gather-and conducting tick checks after outdoor activities.

read More

Indian Opinion analysis

Ticks’ expansion into U.S. cities underscores global challenges related to climate change-induced shifts in natural ecosystems as well as interactions between wildlife and human habitation patterns shaped by urbanization trends. For India-a country with dense population centers surrounded by diverse ecosystems-the implications are twofold: managing vector-borne disease risks through proactive ecological strategies while balancing biodiversity conservation efforts such as maintaining forest corridors alongside growing cities.

India should consider this emerging trend as a cautionary tale about unplanned growth leading to increased exposure to zoonotic diseases exacerbated by environmental disruptions. Addressing similar concerns locally will likely require integrated collaborations across public health agencies evaluating potential disease threats while promoting sustainable land use policies tailored for urban proximity with forests/wildlife zones-a relevant priority given india’s struggles with vector diseases like malaria or dengue over recent decades.

Read More