When did ticks become a problem in Minnesota?

An insect known for carrying debilitating diseases wasn't always on Minnesotans' radar. 

In Good Question, Jeff Wagner digs into the history of ticks in our region and why concern has never been higher.
 
Wagner spends a lot of time walking through woods in Minnesota thanks to disc golf. The hobby made him acutely aware of ticks.
But he's had older locals tell him they don't remember ticks being an issue when they were kids playing outside, back in the 1960s.
When did ticks become a problem in Minnesota? Good Question.
 
The answer starts across the country in Connecticut in a small town named Lyme. People there in the 1970s were getting sick with symptoms like severe fatigue, headaches, skin rashes and swollen knees. Kids were getting diagnosed with what appeared to be arthritis. The mysterious illness would later take on the town's name, Lyme disease.

In the 1980s, scientists determined it came from a tick bite, specifically a blacklegged tick. They're commonly called a deer tick. The species is the only one known to carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
 
That same decade, the Minnesota Department of Health started to identify Lyme disease cases in the state, which started raising public awareness about the dangers of tick bites. Right as people began to take notice, the number of infected deer ticks started to rise.
 
"It used to be, 20 years ago we saw (deer) ticks maybe in Washington County, a little bit of Anoka County, and then kind of speckled throughout. Now we see deer ticks established pretty much all throughout the state of Minnesota," said Alex Carlson, public affairs manager with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.
 
Why have ticks become such a big concern today? Carlson points to three main factors. The first is reduced natural boundaries due to deforestation and suburbanization.
 
"We're living right among animals, both domesticated animals and wildlife, and so we have more interaction with the animals that may be carrying ticks than we would have maybe 100 years ago," he said.
 
Ticks contract the bacteria that causes Lyme disease from biting infected rodents like mice. They then latch onto deer, which saw their population explode in the 20th century, spreading the infected ticks across Minnesota.
 
"We don't see those natural predators for those types of small mammals like mice and squirrels (like) foxes and predatory birds and things like that. They're just not as around because of deforestation and the urban-suburban sprawl," said Carlson.
 
Another factor in this equation is climate change. Our recent warm winters were great for disc golfing but also for ticks. 

"More mild winters means more ticks will survive the winter, and so we'll have more returning the following spring," said Carlson.
 
It's the reason the lone star tick is gaining ground in Minnesota despite its natural habitat being in the southern U.S. A bite from this bug can give you an allergy to red meat called Alpha-gal Syndrome.
 
"The fact that when we have these short stretch winters with not a lot of snow cover, more of those lone star ticks will survive," Carlson said.
 
The third factor on why ticks are more problematic now is simply public awareness. We're better educated on the types, where they're found, the diseases they carry and what to do if we're bitten. Carlson said hospitalizations are up partly because people are seeking medical help sooner.