Why can’t we just kill all the ticks?

The ticks got an early start this year, and they’ve been busy. In April, 105 of every 100,000 emergency-room visits nationwide involved a tick bite, up 52% from the year before. In May, that number reached 112. The CDC has been tracking these visits since 2017, and this spring brought the highest early-season numbers it’s ever recorded. New York has averaged more than 17,500 new Lyme disease cases annually over the past three years. New York City reported 2,928 preliminary cases in 2025, up 15% from the year before. Most were acquired outside the five boroughs, particularly on Long Island and upstate. Lyme infections in California are lower, but that doesn’t mean ticks are less pervasive. The western blacklegged tick, California’s main Lyme carrier, has been found in 56 of the state’s 58 c