Ohio Tick Populations and Diversity on the Rise

For the last decade, tick populations in Ohio have been increasing.  This year, reports are on the rise for finding ticks on animals and humans alike. 

There are certain myths surrounding these arachnids.  The myth that ticks are only active in the summer is false.  Ticks are active all year long and take one to three years to complete their lifecycle.  Their apparent surge in the warmer months is merely due to more outdoor activity of the hosts in the tick’s habitat.  As far as that habitat, the myth that ticks prefer the woods is also false.  Depending on the species, some ticks prefer open pastures and fields.  The final myth is that it takes a day for a tick to transmit a disease once it’s embedded.  The time of transmission varies depending on the type of tick and what disease is being vectored. 

In the 1990’s, Ohio only had a couple ticks that were of concern for disease transmission.  These are the American Dog Tick and the Black Legged (Deer) Tick.  In 2025 we now have six species of concern.  These include the Lone Star Tick, the Brown Dog Tick, the Gulf Coast Tick, and the Asian Longhorned Tick.  Each species has their own unique lifecycle, diseases that they vector, and preferred habitat. 

American Dog Tick – Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)

Blacklegged (Deer) Tick – Lyme disease among others.  Over the past thirteen years, there has been a 35-fold increase in Lyme disease cases reported in Ohio (Ohio Department of Health).

Lone Star Tick – In addition to various diseases, they are known to cause Alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy).

Brown Dog Tick – RMSF

Gulf Coast Tick – Rickettsiosis (spotted fevers)

Asian Longhorned Tick – RMSF.  Have also been documented in the mortality of full-grown cattle due to overwhelming numbers and related blood loss.

The popular thought is that ticks jump off plants/grasses or fall from tree limbs to get on animals or humans.  Ticks actually “hunt” by questing.  This method is climbing to the top of blades of grass or plants and waiting for something to pass by and brush against it.  They extend their front legs and attach.  They then find some bare skin, release their saliva that contains an anesthetic (to desensitize any feeling of the upcoming bite) as well as an anticoagulant (to keep the blood from clotting so they can keep feeding). 

The best prevention options are permethrin treated clothing, repellents such as DEET that are rated for ticks, and tick checks on yourself and companion animals when coming in from the outside.  If a tick is found and is embedded, carefully remove by grabbing as close to the skin as possible with tweezers and send the tick in for testing to see if any diseases are present. 

For more information, please call Wayne Dellinger at the Union County Extension Office at 937-644-8117 or email dellinger.6@osu.edu.