Overview

For more information about how to identify these and other ticks, visit https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/tickID.html

Learn to properly identify ticks you may find on yourself, your coworkers, or any pets/animals. Different ticks can carry different diseases with unspecific symptoms. Adult female ticks can transmit diseases and are pictured below.

American doc tick ("Wood tick") - Transmits: Tularemia, Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis

Blacklegged tick ("Deer tick") - Transmits: Lyme disease, Human Anaplasmosis, Human Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, Powassan Virus

Lone Star tick ("Turkey tick") - Transmits: Human Ehrlichiosis, Heart;amd Virus, Tularemia, Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI)

Brown Dog Tick ("Kennel tick") - Transmits: Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis

Various fully engorged ticks - Ticks feed on blood at multiple stages in their lives, and it can be difficult to identify the species of tick once engorged. These engorged ticks have been feeding for several hours.

Ticks are small arachnids in the mite family that feed on the blood of mammals and birds. Some species of ticks can transmit bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause illness in humans and animals. The most common tickborne disease among humans is Lyme disease; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 500,000 people are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year in the United States. Additionally, reported cases of tick-borne diseases such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Anaplasmosis have been rising since 2000. Expansion of tick range due to climate change, growing populations of animal hosts (e.g., white-tailed deer), and increased land development as well as increased testing and disease tracking have been identified as contributing factors. The risk of exposure to disease-carrying ticks varies throughout the United States. Workers who spend time outdoors, particularly within potential tick habitats, should be aware of possible disease-carrying ticks in their region, ways to prevent tick bites and disease transmission, and how to recognize symptoms of tickborne diseases.