(From Todd Epp, Northern Plains News)
🏥 Emergency departments across South Dakota and the Midwest are reporting a surge in tick bites this summer, with data pointing to one of the busiest peak seasons for ticks in recent years.
📊 As of July 21, 2025, emergency rooms in the Midwest have seen 85 visits for tick bites per 100,000 emergency department (ED) visits—well above average rates for the region and among the highest in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Northeast leads the nation at 127 per 100,000, but the Midwest trails only slightly behind, with the Southeast, West, and South Central regions reporting lower numbers.
🕰️ Early and Persistent Activity
CDC tracking shows that tick bite visits were already rising sharply in the spring and have stayed high into July. Numbers began climbing in April, hit their highest in May and June, and remain elevated in July with only a slight seasonal downturn. Public health experts say these patterns match a broader national trend of extended tick activity, with the 2025 season echoing or exceeding recent years.
📡 Emergency visit data is gathered by the National Syndromic Surveillance Program, which monitors electronic healthcare records from most non-federal hospitals. The CDC cautions that while these numbers provide a strong indicator of risk, local reporting differences and data gaps mean actual tick exposure could be higher.
🌧️ Why 2025 Is Worse
Mild winters and continued rainfall in the Upper Plains are believed to have helped more ticks survive and emerge earlier than usual. The result: tick populations are up, and the active season is both longer and more intense.
🦠 Public health officials have not specified which diseases are most prevalent so far this summer, but the most common tick species in South Dakota—including the American dog tick and Rocky Mountain wood tick—are capable of transmitting illnesses such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and, less commonly, Lyme disease.
👶👵 Young Children and Seniors at Higher Risk
The spike in ED visits is most pronounced among children under 10 and adults over 70, groups historically at higher risk for severe complications following a tick bite. Health officials urge parents and caregivers to perform tick checks following any outdoor activity and to seek medical attention if rashes, fever, or flu-like symptoms appear in the weeks after a bite.
🛡️ Heightened Public Health Prevention and Reporting
South Dakotans are being urged to take basic precautions: wear long sleeves and pants, use EPA-approved insect repellent, and perform full-body tick checks after spending time outside. The state’s department of health is also encouraging residents to report tick encounters and submit photographs to ongoing tick surveillance programs—initiatives that help track the spread of tick populations and associated diseases.
📅 Tick season in the Northern Plains typically runs from April through November, peaking in early summer. While data for the remainder of the summer is still coming in, preliminary numbers indicate the risk may remain elevated well into the fall.
🧪 CDC data was last refreshed July 20, 2025, and is preliminary for July due to reporting lags.
