Transcript

Mark Herz This is GBH's Morning Edition. It's been a busy season for ticks this summer in New England. Emergency room visits for tick bites in the Northeast are at their highest levels in at least five years, that's according to the CDC.

To learn more about the pesky arachnids, Meteorologist Dave Epstein spoke with Richard Pollack, a public health entomologist, and Gaurab Basu, a primary care doctor and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard University.

Dave Epstein: So ticks definitely have gotten a lot of play over the past several years. Again, this summer, we hear all about them, assuming that we're going to continue to hear about them in the fall. When I was a kid, this was not something that got talked about very much. Either of you can take this question. Why are ticks now just part of our routine seasons?

Richard Pollack: I'll take this Dave. Ticks have always been out there, but we have changed our environment or our environment has changed for other reasons, and the ticks that we've always had out there have been able to thrive and spread and cause us increased burden. We've also moved ticks from elsewhere into our own environment. So we're dealing with all of these happening at once.

Dave Epstein: Gaurab, in your practice, are you seeing a significant increase in this? Is it adults? Is it kids? Is it both? What's your experience?

Gaurab Basu: Yeah, you know, this was a pretty explosive season and year for ticks. And I am struck first at how much concern and interest there is. Certainly we are seeing as a practice, you know, more issues of Lyme, and having our radar out to make sure we have a quick diagnosis when needed. And a lot of it is educational work to counsel both adults and children about how to do prevention work to try to avoid some of the diseases that ticks bring us.

Epstein: Let's talk practically. It's September in another week or so, and people tend to get outside. The weather's a little bit cooler. It can be easier to take a hike in the woods, we know that people will be going to local farms, things like that. Are there different precautions that we should be taking -- or what are we expecting for September, October, and November in terms of what we've seen in the past?

Pollack: Yeah, great question. I think you should always expect some ticks to be out there -- perhaps maybe not in the dead of winter, in January or February we don't have to worry so much. But right about now, we are in an expected low in tick abundance. We have three main types of ticks in this area. And each one of them is dropping down in abundance right about now. So this is a really great time to get out and explore nature, but still be mindful that there could be a few ticks out there.

Epstein: Richard, as an entomologist, you talked about the three different types of ticks. So you've got the deer tick, the dog tick, and I think there's also this now lone star tick I know we saw some rise. And I also just read something about a long-horn tick up in Maine. Did I get that right?

Pollack: Absolutely, yes. So as I mentioned, ticks are always on the march. Some of the ticks spread from property to property on their own legs, or on the backs of mice or other animals. They may go from neighborhood to neighborhood on the backs of deer or other sorts of larger animals, and they can be transported vast distances as birds fly around.

Epstein: What sort of precautions can folks take? I mean, I know that I wear socks and I don't wear long pants because it's just too warm, but socks are one of the things I do wear. What do you also recommend?

Basu: Yeah, you know, I think the key is just knowing your body. The biggest thing is, you know, especially for your kids and things like that, take a look at shower time, and people should do that for themselves also because if we see a tick on us, and we can take it off us within about 36 hours, that drastically reduces any concern about any kind of disease. So you know, staying on trails, keeping your socks up, things like that. There's those kinds of barriers that you can use. And the key again is, we are cohabitating with ticks now, and if we see one, we can just act quickly upon it.

Epstein: Gaurab, can we talk a little bit about this idea about 36 hours? Because I know from just anecdotally speaking with people that get a tick bite, let's just say they go for a walk at 7 in the morning, they pull a tick off at 10 in the morning, and then they ask their doctor for doxycycline. Can you talk a bit about why that may not be necessary?

Basu: Yeah. It's important just to talk to your doctor. I totally understand why people are concerned about this. You know, no one wants a lot of these tick-borne illnesses. And we also have to be good stewards of these antibiotics because if we use them in the wrong situations, they won't work anymore. So really it takes a lot nuance and talking to your healthcare provider. We know from the research that if you pull the tick off -- we know this really well with Lyme -- before that kind of 36 hour mark, the ability for the tick to get the bacteria into your body is drastically declined. I am not worried about Lyme if the tick is taken off within the 36 hours. If there is a gray zone, you know it’s after 36 hours, if people are asymptomatic, but there's some element of concern and it's been more than 36 hours, there can be kind of a preventative one-time dose of doxycycline that we can provide, but that's only in very unique situations.

Epstein: Great data, great information. Appreciate both of you guys being here this morning and have a great day. Thank you.

Pollack and Basu: Thank you

Herz: That was Meteorologist Dave Epstein speaking with Richard Pollack and Gaurab Basu. You're listening to GBH.

It’s been a busy season for ticks this summer in New England.

To learn more about the pesky arachnids, meteorologist Dave Epstein spoke with Richard Pollack, a public health entomologist, and Dr. Gaurab Basu, a primary care doctor and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard University.

Why are we hearing so much about ticks this year? What makes this year worse than others?

Pollack pins an increase in tick activity and tick bites to changes in our environment over the last few years.

“We have changed our environment or our environment has changed for other reasons, and the ticks that we’ve always had out there have been able to thrive and spread and cause us increased burden,” he said. “We’ve also moved ticks from elsewhere into our own environment. So we’re dealing with all of these happening at once.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, some research suggests that climate change has contributed to the expanded range of ticks — also increasing the potential risk for Lyme disease — particularly in areas of Canada where ticks were “previously unable to survive.”

Are we seeing an increase in people being treated for tick bites and tick-borne illnesses?

Emergency room visits for tick bites in the Northeast are at their highest levels in at least five years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Basu said 2025 brought “a pretty explosive [summer] season and year for ticks.”

He added that his practice has been seeing more issues of Lyme disease — and has bulked up educational work to counsel both adults and children about disease prevention.

Should people be concerned about ticks outside of the summer season?

Pollack says people should “always expect some ticks to be out there” — aside from the coldest months of the year, like January and February.

“But right about now [heading into September], we are in an expected low in tick abundance. We have three main types of ticks in this area. And each one of them is dropping down in abundance right about now. So this is a really great time to get out and explore nature, but still be mindful that there could be a few ticks out there.”

What are the types of ticks that we see in New England?

New England is home to the deer tick, the dog tick and the Lone Star tick. All of these species can spread germs leading to disease. The deer tick is most associated with Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, the dog tick is known for spreading Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the Lone Star tick is linked to alpha-gal syndrome.

The invasive Asian longhorned tick was also spotted in Maine for the first time this year.

“Some of the ticks spread from property to property on their own legs, or on the backs of mice or other animals,” Pollack said. “They may go from neighborhood to neighborhood on the backs of deer or other sorts of larger animals, and they can be transported vast distances as birds fly around.”

Pollack added that sometimes dangerous tick species can also be transported on humans returning from trips abroad — but the good news is they typically don’t have the ability to survive in our environment.

What precautions can be taken to protect from tick-borne illnesses?

Basu said the key is knowing your body and keeping a close eye after time outdoors.

“Especially for your kids and things like that, take a look at shower time, and people should do that for themselves also because if we see a tick on us and we can take it off us within about 36 hours, that drastically reduces any concern about any kind of disease,” he said.

Staying on trails and wearing long socks or clothes can help create a physical barrier, Basu added.

Why is the 36-hour rule important?

“We know from the research that if you pull the tick off — we know this really well with Lyme — before that 36-hour mark, the ability for the tick to get the bacteria into your body is drastically declined,” Basu said.

But there can be gray zones — including if the tick was removed after 36 hours, if people are asymptomatic after exposure, etc.

In that case, Basu said there can be a preventative one-time dose of doxycycline that doctors can provide, but only in “very unique situations.”

“[Doctors] have to be good stewards of these antibiotics because if we use them in the wrong situations, they won’t work anymore,” he said. “So really it takes a lot nuance and talking to your healthcare provider.”