Ticks on Nantucket

Learn about the types of ticks found on Nantucket and the diseases those ticks can carry.

Blacklegged tick (also know as deer ticks):

blacklegged-tickDiseases carried: Borrelia burgdorferi and B. mayonii (which cause Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis), B. miyamotoi (hard tick relapsing fever), Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis (ehrlichiosis), Babesia microti (babesiosis), and Powassan virus (Powassan virus disease).


Lyme disease, Babesiosis, and Anaplasmosis (HGA) are the most common tick-borne diseases on Nantucket. Together, they account for 93% of total infectious disease on Nantucket from 2009-2018.  The same tick (deer tick) transmit these diseases; it is possible to be infected with more than one tickborne disease, according to the CDC. 


Dog Ticks (American and Brown):

americandog-tickbrowndog-tickDiseases carried: Tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (in the southwestern U.S. and along the U.S.-Mexico border). 

 


Lone Star Tick:

lonestar-tick

Diseases carried: Bourbon virus, Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii (which cause human ehrlichiosis), Heartland virus, tularemia, and STARI. Growing evidence suggests that alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy) may be triggered by the bite of lone star ticks; however, other tick species have not been ruled out.