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Just in time for the arrival of warmer weather, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new tick surveillance website that maps county-level reports of where different species of ticks have been found in Nebraska and what diseases each can carry. Spring and summer are prime time for residents to encounter ticks in Nebraska. And there are plenty of lures to draw residents off beaten paths where ticks may lie in wait, including the recent start of morel mushroom hunting season.
Dr. Sydney Stein, Nebraska's state epidemiologist, said the Nebraska Tick Surveillance Map is a vital resource for Nebraska residents and health care providers. "Monitoring tick populations allows us to see where ticks are in our communities and recreational spaces, identify pathogens carried by ticks in Nebraska and prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases, protecting the health and well-being of both humans and animals," she said in a statement.
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Health officials in Nebraska have been actively surveying for ticks since 2021, said Jeff Hamik, a vector-borne disease epidemiologist with the agency. A first survey last week, in fact, indicated that the arachnids already are out and about, he said. Lindsay Huse, left, Douglas County health director, and Shaun Cross, a University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher, survey for ticks at Zorinsky Lake in 2023.
Health officials are trying to get a better idea of what ticks live in which parts of the state and what disease-causing pathogens they may carry. The state's new interactive tool includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's tick distribution maps . But it also provides more detailed information, identifying by county where four species of ticks are established and have been reported as well as those in which they have not been reported or sampled.
The CDC maps, for instance, show the Gulf Coast tick living no farther north than Kansas. But the state map indicates that it is established in Douglas County and has been reported in Saunders, Lancaster and York counties. Hamik noted that the federal agency plans to work toward more detailed reports.
The state reports its data to CDC. But there is a bit of a lag between the two. "We're just able to do it a lot quicker," he said.
The CDC's criteria for established ticks means at least six ticks or two life stages — larvae, nymphs and adults — have been collected in a single year, according to the website. Criteria for reported ticks require that one to five ticks of the same life stage have been identified. Surveying is important because tick populations are changing over time, with climate change being one factor behind the shift.
While ticks are always moving into new areas, researchers have said, they didn’t survive the colder months when winters were harsher and didn’t establish a presence. Health officials first reported that blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, had established a presence in eastern Nebraska in 2019. Two Nebraska cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2021, with both patients likely exposed near each other in northeast Nebraska’s Thurston County.
Researchers also isolated the bacteria from ticks collected in the area, confirming that local ticks were carrying the bacteria. The Lone star tick, which is widely distributed in the southeastern and eastern United States, also appears to be expanding its range in Nebraska and has been found in east, southeast, northeast, north central, south central and southwest regions of the state. Infected Lone star ticks can transmit ehrlichiosis and tularemia to humans.
Bites from the tick also have been associated with alpha-gal syndrome, commonly known as red meat allergy . Health officials, however, note that not all ticks carry pathogens that can cause diseases and that not all bites will transmit illnesses. According to CDC, for instance, a tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.
Removing a tick quickly — within 24 hours — can greatly reduce the chances of getting Lyme disease. But Nebraska is seeing a significant increase in reported tickborne diseases, Hamik said, although its numbers are nowhere near those recorded in northern and eastern states where Lyme disease is endemic. The median number of reported tickborne diseases in Nebraska increased by almost 60% from the 10-year period between 2005 and 2014 to the most recent period between 2015 and 2024, he said.
Not only have ticks been expanding into new areas, but health care providers also are more aware of their presence. The best thing people can do to protect themselves, he and other health officials say, is to prevent bites. Ticks live in grassy, brushy or wooded areas.
When venturing into such areas: Cover exposed skin by wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts and tucking pant legs into socks, Apply insect repellant containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol or 2-undecanone, Treat outdoor clothing and gear with products containing .5% permethrin, which holds through several washings. Walk in the center of trails, avoiding wooded, brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
After you return indoors: Check clothing, pets and gear for ticks. Check your body for ticks. Shower soon after being outdoors.
Put clothes worn outdoors in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes, or an hour for damp clothes. If you become ill with fever and rash after being in an area where ticks may have been, contact your healthcare provider. Signs and symptoms of tickborne diseases are available on the CDC's website: www.
cdc.gov/ticks Top Journal Star photos for April 2025 (From left) Eleanor Isaacson, Aspen Isaacson, Levi Isaacson and Norah Isaacson empty their plastic easter eggs of candy on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at Woods Park in Lincoln. An opponent of LB89, also known as the Stand With Women Act, holds a LGBTQ+ pride flag up to a window as Sen.
Jane Raybould of Lincoln prints something off during a floor debate at the Capitol on Tuesday. Papillion-La Vista's Ryan Thompson breaks his bat as he hits the ball against Lincoln East on Monday at Sherman Field. Jadyn Olesen (center) embraces Olive Brethouwer (left) and Violet Brethouwer (right) after her performance on Monday at the Railyard in Lincoln.
Violet considers Olesen her hero, and even cut her hair to resemble the singer’s. Lincoln Southwest's Peyton Tiernan (14) and Lincoln Southwest's Yai Tong (18) vie for possesion of the ball against Lincoln Southeast's Jack Talley (6) during the first half at Seacrest Field on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Lincoln. Protesters gather on the north steps of the Capitol during an anti-Trump demonstration on Saturday.
Charlotte Eberle, 8, leaps over rows of tulips while picking flowers with her family at SR Pumpkin and Flower Farm near Ceresco on Friday. Construction worker Gustavo Leverman works on a home in the 800 block of West Avondale Street on Tuesday. Rising costs for building materials like lumber due to tariffs have raised the average cost of building a home.
Luke Shaner peeks through a fake dinosaur egg with his toy T-Rex at the Jurassic Quest event Friday at the Sandhills Global Event Center. Lincoln East's Carter Harmes (3) high fives his teammates after scoring a run as he heads back inside the dugout in the second inning of the HAC baseball championship at Den Hartog Field on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Lincoln Star goalkeeper Yan Shostak (33) blocks a shot by Sioux City's Nikita Klepov (92) as he is backed up by teammate Gio Digiulian (17) during the second period in Game 1 of a USHL Western Conference semifinals series Friday, April 18, 2025, at the Ice Box.
Damien Rodriguez (front to back), Jason Bell and Cesar Gonzalez, who competed as the team “Three Blind Mice,” pull a plane on Saturday during the Woman in Aviation Cornhusker Chapter's 2nd Annual Plane Pull at the Lincoln Airport. Loren Eiseley Society vice president Thomas Lynch (from left), society president Bing Chen, and Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird unveil a new historical marker honoring writer Loren Eiseley on Friday at Irvingdale Park. Mary Abebe (left) returns to her seat after being named the 2025 Scottish Rite Educator of the Year as Brenda Barnett and Stacie Coatman congratulate her on Friday at Adams Elementary School.
Abebe, who teachers computer science, started at Lincoln Public Schools in 1995 and moved to Adams in 2019. Lincoln Northeast's Lazerek Houston poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln. Omaha Skutt's Molly Ladwig poses for a photo during the 2025 Super State photoshoot at the Lincoln Journal Star on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lincoln.
Nebraska head coach Rhonda Revelle (from left) embraces player Natalia Hill at the top of the 6th inning next to Jordyn Bahl during the Creighton game on Wednesday at Bowlin Stadium. Zemi Wolfe records as she dumps water on her mother, Rudi Wolfe, on Saturday at Zeman Elementary School. The school hosted a color run, picnic, splash towers and other family-friendly events with proceeds going to support the school's summer activities.
Protesters with the American Federation of Government Employees union (AFGE) hold a rally outside of the Lincoln VA Clinc at on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Lincoln. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) local representing Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Lincoln VA Clinic rallied Tuesday to stop the attacks on the federal workforce. Cows graze in the fields below as Sandhill Cranes take flight at sunrise along the Platte River on Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Kearney.
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Sen. Ashlei Spivey during debate on a bill that would return Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential election system at the Capitol on Tuesday. Halsey, a Great Horned Owl, looks through a kaleidoscope of mirrors on display on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Indian Center Inc in Lincoln.
Lincoln Southwest's Sole Jones (center) competes against other athletes in heat one of the girls 400m during a track and field invitational at Union Bank Stadium on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Lincoln. A bee covered in pollen buzzes from flower to flower on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln. Jarrek Renshaw, a lead mechanic, works on an engine in a testing area at Duncan Aviation on Wednesday.
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The canoes were tested for buoyancy and raced at Holmes Lakes. The event was part of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Mid-America Student Symposium hosted by UNL from Thursday through Saturday. Rutgers’ Yomar Carreras (left) slides into home as Nebraska’s Will Jesske tags him out on Sunday at Haymarket Park.
An early voter drops off her ballot at a drop box at the Lancaster County Election Commission Office, 601 N. 46th St., on Friday in Lincoln.
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' Hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes have been converging on the Platte Basin for their annual migration to their northern breeding grounds. Every spring, as sandhill cranes are migrating to their breeding grounds, cranes without partners will start pairing up. During this time, the cranes perform dancing displays.
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Gov. Jim Pillen (right) greets World War II veterans Clare Sward (from left) and Jay Cawley on Tuesday in Lincoln. Lincoln Pius X's Tatum Heimes (from left) and Ana Patera look on as Gretna East's Lily Frederick (far right) celebrates a goal with teammate Madi Shelburne during a high school soccer game on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Lincoln.
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