How to avoid tick bites in your yard or while hiking in the woods, and what to do if one starts feasting on you

Ticks are small, and you might not notice when they bite, but the diseases they carry can dramatically harm your health. Each year, deer ticks alone cause an estimated 476,000 new U.S. cases of Lyme disease, which can do long-term damage to a person’s joints, heart and nervous system. You may be hearing about the lone star tick, as well – it can trigger Alpha Gal syndrome, which can leave infected people allergic to red meat and its byproducts, including certain vaccines, medications and products with gelatin. Several other tick-borne illnesses, including Heartland virus disease, Powassan virus disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis, can cause serious health problems and, in severe cases, even death. 2026 has been a tough year, with emergency room visits linked to tick bites running high going into summer. So how can you avoid getting bitten, and what preventive measures actually work? I’m the co-director of the Tick-Borne Disease Center at Binghamton University. Here are some of the questions my team hears – and some advice: 1. Why should I worry about ticks, and how do I know if I’ve been infected? Ticks can really pack a punch when it comes to how sick they make you. Lyme…

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