Lone star ticks becoming more common in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — There's concerning news regarding an insect Minnesotans know all too well.
Ticks can spread illnesses like Lyme disease — but there's one species that, when it bites you, could cause a potentially life-threatening allergy, and its numbers are growing in the state.
We're talking about the lone star tick. It gets that name not because it's from Texas, but due to a singular spot on its back.
Unlike deer and wood ticks, a bite from the lone star tick can lead to alpha-gal syndrome. That's when a person becomes allergic to red meat, pork, and even dairy products.
If someone with alpha-gal syndrome consumes those products, it could cause hives, a rash, severe stomach pains, dizziness and swelling of the throat, lips and tongue.
The tick is found in most states south of Minnesota and along the east coast. However, it is starting to expand its range into Minnesota.
The Metro Mosquito Control District (MMCD) tracks its numbers. From 2009 to 2023 there were 57 lone star ticks turned into them or the Minnesota Department of Health.
So far this year, 31 have been collected. That's more than half of what was seen during the previous 15 years. They've been found in nearly all metro counties.
The high numbers likely have to do with the extremely warm winter we experienced.
"The lone star tick doesn't typically overwinter in places that have cold climates. And so that's why they're not established here because usually they die off every winter," said Alex Carlson, a spokesperson for MMCD. "It's possible that a few of the adults that came up last fall survived to the following spring and some of those are the ones that we're collecting." He added that some of the lone star ticks found this year likely came to Minnesota on a bird or other animals traveling from the tick's usual southern territory.
You can protect yourself the same way you protect yourself from other ticks in the state: avoid high grass, brush and wooded areas. If you can't, dress properly with pants and long sleeves.
Treat your clothes and gear with permethrin, a tick repellent. Make sure to do a tick check on your body once you're indoors.
Carlson said deer and wood ticks are still the type people are most likely to encounter in Minnesota.