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There are early signs that it could be a bad year for tick bites. In May, the rate of people seeking emergency care for tick bites was the 

 since 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you get a tick bite, you're not alone: They happen in 

Not every tick bite yields disease, since not every tick carries pathogens or bites long enough to transmit them. Still, 

 of vector-borne disease (including mosquitoes) come from ticks, which can carry pathogens with terrible consequences.

Lyme disease is the most common tick borne disease in the U.S., estimated to affect more than 

"But ticks can actually expose people in the U.S. to 

 different disease-causing agents," including toxins, allergens, bacteria, parasites and viruses, says Alison Hinckley, an epidemiologist at the CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. "The illnesses can range from mild to life-threatening," Hinckley adds.

Here are facts to know about these biting critters and tips to stay safe.

Ticks are slow threats … so prompt action cuts your risk

With ticks – unlike mosquitoes with their one-and-done sting – there are generally multiple opportunities to reduce your risks. That's because most kinds of ticks need to crawl onto your body, latch into the skin and, in many cases, feed awhile – from several hours to several days – before they get you sick.

"The longer a tick is attached, the more likely it is to have spit an infectious dose of whatever germ it might be carrying into you," says 

, director of the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Disease and founder of its 

Ticks, with their tiny crawling legs, don't go very far on their own – so they're often picked up outside or brought into living spaces on animals, whether they be pests or pets. So, if you're spending time outside, follow this guidance from CDC experts:

Risks differ in the North, South and West

The risks of getting a tick borne disease like Lyme or relapsing fever vary by region, depending on what ticks are around, what they're carrying, and how likely they are to come in contact with humans.

To see which tick-borne diseases have been found in your area, you can check historic data (2019-2022) by county 

, and in many cases, state and local health department websites, says 

, an infectious disease microbiologist at Johns Hopkins University who studies Lyme disease.

Broadly, the CDC divides the country into three regions when it comes to ticks:

Tick bites are most common in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest, with nearly 20 percent of people getting them each year, and much of the region is considered to be at high-risk for Lyme disease, according to 

 carried by deer ticks in this region – up to 30 percent of ticks in the nymphal stage and up to 60 percent of adult ticks carry it, says Rebecca Eisen, a research biologist in the Division of Vector-borne Diseases at CDC.

Ticks in this area carry other pathogens, but far less commonly – 2 percent to 6 percent of ticks may be carrying bacteria that cause 

 In the Central and Southeastern parts of the U.S. (including Texas), around 13 percent of people report getting tick bites. There, 

The somewhat lower incidence of tick bites in Southern states may be related to 

, Eisen says. In Northern states, they tend to crawl up to the surface of leaf litter and tall grasses, while in Southern states, they stay closer to the soil level, making them less likely to cling onto a human arm or leg. Eisen says these differences are likely driven by genetics, based on how generations of ticks changed over time. "I think it's just a function of what survived," she says.

In Western states (including California), tick bites are considerably less common, but they do happen – around 6 percent of people report getting them, according to CDC research. Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are some of the diseases 

If you do get bitten, you should remove the tick right away. Don't toss it immediately, advises Mather at URI, because identifying some key information about the tick can help determine your risks. That includes what kind of tick it is, whether it's in the nymph or adult stage and how long it's been feeding on you.

 with diagrams provided by the URI's Tick Encounter website. If you get stuck, you can submit a 

 from the top, and Mather and his team will try to help figure it out.

Or take your tick — wrapped in tape, or in a plastic bag — to the doctor if you're seeking medical care. Seeing what type of tick it is and how long it's fed on you can help medical providers determine if you're at risk of Lyme or other diseases, Hinckley says.

, according to CDC, because the results often don't lead to actionable advice. If the tick is positive for a pathogen, it 

 you've been infected. And if you do develop symptoms of a tick-borne disease, you're better off seeking medical treatment right away instead of waiting for the tick testing results.

In places where Lyme disease is common, finding an engorged adult deer tick (

) could mean you should seek care right away.

"The only time you would get an antibiotic, after a tick bite and before any symptoms, would be to prevent Lyme disease," says Hinckley, with CDC, "And in that case, we recommend just a single dose."

In most other cases, you may be advised to monitor yourself for symptoms in the days and weeks after the bite.

"In a lot of cases, if you're seeing something right away after a tick bite, it could just be a hypersensitivity reaction – a little redness – that doesn't require a visit to a health care provider," Hinckley says. "But if it's a few days later and you start to experience aches and pains, fever, and – for a lot of these different tick borne diseases – a rash can occur. For those symptoms, seeing a health care provider as soon as you can would be important."

Hinckley recommends telling the provider about your tick bite, your symptoms, and where you were – the state, the county – when you picked up the tick. "It can help them decide what diseases you might be at risk for," she says.

It's a lot to figure out on your own, so you can check the University of Rhode Island's 

Ticks-borne diseases are spreading to new areas — stay informed

Ticks and the diseases they carry are on the rise, and on the move. In the past 20 years, scientists have 

 seven new tick borne pathogens in the U.S., and reported cases of disease have more than doubled, according to a 2024 CDC report.

Changes in climate – particularly warming in the Northern Hemisphere – plays a big role in expanding the areas where ticks can survive, says 

, director of Johns Hopkins University's Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute. So does reforestation which brings more deer, birds and rodents. "When we live in these wooded areas, we are really getting into the way of millions of years of evolution between the ticks, the mammals and the bacterium," she says.

People and their medical providers are also more aware of ticks in their areas and the diseases they carry, which leads to more cases being confirmed, Baumgarth says.

But there are risks coming to new areas that weren't seen before. Since the early 1990's, Lyme disease has gone from being "really unknown" to becoming established in 

And the mid-Atlantic recently saw its first fatal case of 

. "The fact that we are now seeing these virus infections in areas where we haven't seen them before is probably a tip of the iceberg," Baumgarth says, since it likely means there are more cases that aren't being diagnosed.

Researchers in the South and West are also tracking 

, a condition caused by the bites of soft-bodied ticks, which lack a hard shell and tend to be found in areas where bats and rodents live. While just 

 to the CDC from 2012-2021, the symptoms – high fevers, chills, nausea – can be often misdiagnosed as influenza, COVID, even malaria, says 

, a tick researcher at Baylor College of Medicine.

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Tick bites are are on the rise this and they can carry some nasty illnesses. Which are most common depends where you live. Here's what to know to protect yourself.

Tick risks vary by region. Here’s where diseases have spread and how to stay safe

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