Ticks appear to be spreading into more areas, and with them comes an increase in concerns like Lyme disease. Cases of alpha gal, which causes people to get sick if they eat red meat, are also on the rise.
There are also viruses that are very rare, but may be going unreported because they aren’t well known. Including one called Powassan. In 2024, Virginia Tech Entomologist Gillian Eastwood detected Powassan in a tick in the New River Valley.
“They cause flu like symptoms,” Eastwood said. “So fever, not feeling great, but this is one virus that can cause neurological problems.”
Like Lyme disease, Powassan is spread by deer ticks. Eastwood’s lab also discovered evidence of lone star ticks with Heartland and Bourbon viruses in Virginia. All three viruses cause fever, fatigue, and in rare cases, death.
“The viruses can transmit really quickly, and so you want to avoid getting that tick bite,” Eastwood said.
Unlike Lyme disease, these viruses can’t be treated with antibiotics. they can infect someone much quicker than Lyme disease.
“I don’t want to advocate that people don’t go outdoors, and I love going outdoors myself,” Eastwood said. “So if you do go outdoors, just check yourself really well when you do come inside.”
Eastwood advised wearing long pants and tucking them into your socks, and wearing insect repellant. You can also spray clothing with permethrin, which should be applied a day before you wear it. She notes that permethrin can be toxic to cats, so make sure you spray it in a place cats can’t won’t come into contact.
Summer is a time when more people are watching out for ticks. But tick activity appears to be spreading, even during the winter. “It is still possible to be bitten by a tick in the winter,” Eastwood said. “And thus we do see cases of things like Lyme disease too.”
