Long Island Tick Season 2026: What Riverhead & East End Families Should Know

An above-average tick season — and Long Island is at the center of it

Long Island public health officials, local news outlets, and Stony Brook Medicine physicians are all reporting the same thing this year: 2026 is shaping up to be one of the worst tick seasons in recent memory. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that emergency-room visits for tick bites hit their highest weekly rates since 2017 across much of the Northeast this spring, including New York. (longislandpress.com)

Closer to home, Riverhead News-Review and Long Island NY News both linked this year's spike to the region's cold, snowy winter, which — counterintuitively — created conditions that let more ticks survive under insulating snowpack. (riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com) Dr. Luis Marcos, Director of the Adult Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Center at Stony Brook Medicine, has been telling patients to prepare for "one of the worst tick seasons ever." (stonybrookmedicine.edu)

And in early July, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced a push for $273 million in federal funding to combat tick-borne disease, citing Suffolk County as having the highest number of reported Lyme cases in New York State. (patch.com)

Why the East End is especially exposed

Long Island — and Suffolk County in particular — sits in one of the highest-risk regions in the country for blacklegged (deer) ticks. Riverhead, the Hamptons, the North Fork, Shelter Island, and the surrounding hamlets combine four things ticks love:

• Wooded edges and brushy trail systems bordering neighborhoods
• Tall grass in fields, vineyards, and farm properties
• A large, well-established deer population
• Warm, humid summers with mild transitional seasons

The North Fork Sun also flagged an ongoing shift on the East End: the lone star tick — associated with alpha-gal syndrome (an allergy to red meat triggered by tick bites) — continues to expand its range across eastern Long Island alongside blacklegged ticks. (northforksun.com) That means outdoor precautions matter well beyond the traditional "spring peak."

Local resources worth bookmarking

• Suffolk County Department of Health — Ticks & Tick-Borne Diseases. Free tick identification services, prevention guides, and current surveillance data for the county.
• Stony Brook Southampton Hospital — Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center. The East End's dedicated resource for tick-bite evaluation, testing questions, and clinical support.
• NYS DEC — Be Tick Free. Statewide prevention, yard-management, and removal guidance.

What families can do this summer — practical, not perfect

Nobody's spending a Long Island summer indoors. The goal isn't avoiding the outdoors — it's building small, consistent habits that lower risk without disrupting your life.

Yard habits that meaningfully reduce exposure

• Keep grass short in play and lounging areas.
• Create a 3-foot wood-chip or gravel buffer between lawn and wooded edges.
• Clear leaf litter, brush piles, and old wood stacks that hold moisture.
• Move playsets, swing sets, and outdoor furniture away from tree lines.
• Consider fencing that discourages deer traffic through the yard.

Where naturopathic support fits

Antibiotics prescribed by a licensed medical provider are the standard, evidence-based treatment when Lyme disease is diagnosed — especially early. Nothing on this page is intended to replace that.

What we do see in our Long Island practice is a common second chapter: people who completed antibiotics but still don't feel like themselves. Lingering fatigue, brain fog, disrupted sleep, joint aches, mood shifts, and digestive changes are some of the most commonly reported patterns after a tick-borne infection — and they often overlap with the same root drivers we address in our chronic fatigue and autoimmune support work.

Our Lyme Disease Support program is designed to work alongside your medical care, not in place of it. Plans focus on the foundations recovery depends on: steady nutrition, gut and immune resilience, sleep and nervous-system regulation, mitochondrial and adrenal support, and thoughtful, personalized supplementation — no kitchen-sink protocols.

If you'd like a deeper walk-through of prevention and daily support habits tailored to Riverhead families, our earlier article covers it in detail: Lyme Disease on Long Island: Natural Support Strategies for Riverhead Residents.

Related services

• Lyme Disease & Tick-Borne Illness Support
• Chronic Fatigue & Complex Concerns
• Autoimmune & Inflammatory Support
• Functional Testing & Lab Work

Prefer to talk it through? Book a consultation in Riverhead, Huntington, or Garden City — or virtually anywhere in New York.

FAQ

Sources & further reading

• Long Island Press — Tick season is off to a busy start: how to protect yourself on Long Island (June 23, 2026)
• Riverhead News-Review — Cold winter linked to spike in area tick bites (May 2026)
• Patch (Huntington) — Suffolk Has Most Lyme Cases In NY; Sen. Schumer Seeks $273M To Fight Tick-Borne Disease (July 1, 2026)
• Stony Brook Medicine — How You Can Prepare For This Spring's Tick Outbreak
• North Fork Sun — Tick season never ends: the East End's growing threat
• Suffolk County Department of Health Services — Ticks & Tick-Borne Diseases
• Stony Brook Southampton Hospital — Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center
• NYS DEC — Be Tick Free