Long Island is consistently ranked among the highest Lyme disease transmission areas in the United States, and Suffolk County sits at the center of that risk. The Central Pine Barrens more than 100,000 acres of undeveloped land running through the heart of the county creates direct, persistent tick pressure for neighborhoods in Brookhaven, Southampton, and Riverhead. Deer corridors cut through nearly every suburban community, from the wooded North Shore lots in Smithtown and Huntington to the coastal neighborhoods along the South Shore. The Hamptons and the East End carry some of the highest tick concentrations on the island.
On top of Lyme disease, Suffolk County ticks also transmit anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and an emerging threat called alpha-gal syndrome a tick-triggered allergy to red meat now affecting thousands of Long Island residents. The CDC estimates that between 3,800 and 18,000 people in Suffolk County developed alpha-gal between 2010 and 2022. This is not a problem that’s going away on its own, and it’s not something a big-box spray is going to solve.