Common species in Tennessee
Tennessee follows the split authority source pattern. The species below are drawn from the state-authority sources listed in the sidebar Data Row.
- Brown dog tick (dog/kennel context)
- Gulf Coast tick (limited; documented Tennessee surveillance reports)
- Asian longhorned tick (TDA + UT Knoxville surveillance — established in multiple TN counties)
When ticks are most active
Long active window April through October across most of Tennessee, longer in West + Middle TN. Lone star tick most active April-August (statewide and a major AGS driver); American dog tick spring-summer; blacklegged tick active spring + fall (East TN mountains + Cumberland Plateau leads for Lyme).
Where you're most likely to encounter ticks
Great Smoky Mountains National Park hiking, Cherokee + Pisgah National Forests, Cumberland Plateau trails, Nashville + Knoxville + Memphis suburban edges, Land Between the Lakes, Reelfoot Lake, hunting properties statewide, dog walking in any wooded or tall-grass edge.
Disease context
Each disease named below carries an evidence tag per the Data Row policy. Pills indicate the strength of state-specific evidence, not the severity of the disease. Symptoms should always be routed to a clinician; this is orientation, not diagnosis.
- Ehrlichiosisstate surveillance confirmed
Tennessee consistently reports among the highest U.S. ehrlichiosis case counts — lone star tick is the primary vector
- Rocky Mountain spotted feverstate surveillance confirmed
- Alpha-gal syndromestate unique angle
TN is in the documented AGS high-incidence cluster; UT Vanderbilt-area research on AGS context
- STARIregional pattern
- Lyme diseasestate surveillance confirmed
Lower per-capita than Northeast but present, especially in East TN mountains + Cumberland Plateau
- Anaplasmosisstate surveillance confirmed
- Tularemiastate surveillance confirmed
- Heartland virusnon diagnostic mention only
Heartland virus was first identified in Missouri; Tennessee is in the documented range
If you find a tick — what to do
Map resolution notes
mixed resolution.TDH publishes county-level reportable disease data supporting county-resolution claims for ehrlichiosis + RMSF + Lyme. UT Extension covers ecoregion-resolution (East TN mountains vs Middle TN Plateau vs West TN floodplain). CDC maps support national comparison.
State sources
- Primary species source
- Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) Communicable and Environmental Diseases & Emergency Preparedness + Tick-Borne Diseases hub; University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville + UT Extension publications on TN tick species.
- Primary health source
- TDH tickborne disease surveillance + reportable disease summaries; CDC pages and maps for national guardrails.
- Primary extension source
- UT Extension publications on lone star tick, alpha-gal syndrome, ehrlichiosis ecology, and yard/property tick management.
- Surveillance
- TDH county-level tickborne disease surveillance; Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) animal-health + Asian longhorned tick monitoring; UT Knoxville entomology + Southeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases; CDC for national comparison.