Connecticut sees record high volume of ticks amid rising concerns

(WTNH) — Connecticut’s state testing lab is seeing their highest volume of ticks ever.

“Exponentially expanding its population,” said Dr. Goudarz Molaei, Director of Ticks and Tickborne Disease Surveillance for the State of Connecticut. “This is the highest. I suspect this year is going to be an uptick year.”

Ticks are now active year-round due to milder temperatures. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment station said they typically get 50 tick submissions for their testing program over winter months, but this year saw a record 800.

One submission came into Wednesday from Ridgefield, “this tick has been on people for more than 4 or 5 days. This is a 4-year-old person that was bit,” said Molaei.

This year’s statistics are scary, especially for people like Robin Neary who have fallen victim to the extreme dangers of ticks.

“It’s frightening. For many years I would not go near the woods. I didn’t want to go outside,” said Neary.

The Manchester woman never even saw the tick that bit her, but in 2008 she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

“I actually ended up in bed for almost three years. I lost everything. I lost the house, the jobs I had,” said Neary. “My husband would come and bring me lunch to make sure I ate because I wasn’t able to get up and do anything for myself.”

Since her diagnosis the tick population has surged. Now not only having native species but also invasive ones carrying new, potentially deadly diseases to Connecticut like Powassan Virus and Alpha-Gal Syndrome.

“Aggressively chasing you trying to latch on and start biting,” said Molaei.

After years of debilitating pain, Neary is now able to go on hikes again while taking extensive precautions and advises others to do the same.

“I wear special tick socks I wear, and I always have the tight pants so they can’t crawl up and light clothing,” said Neary. “Be cautious and try to be preventative from having them stay on you.”

The Agricultural Experiment Station said they were able to collect 650 ticks in a wooded area in just one hour.

They said along with repellent and tight clothing, do tick checks on yourself, loved ones and pets after being outside.

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