The Lone Star tick is gorging on Garden State blood

Russ Zimmer | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Ticks: Follow these steps before and after a hike Tick-borne diseases can cause serious illnesses, including Lyme disease. Prevalent throughout New Jersey, ticks are found in wooded and grassy areas. Here's what to after a family hike to protect yourself against tick bites.

The Lone Star tick, the most aggressive tick species that targets humans in New Jersey, has extended its range to cover a majority of the state, according to data gathered by the Center for Vector Biology at Rutgers.

Years ago, the Lone Star tick — easily recognized by the white dot on the center of its back — conquered Ocean and then Monmouth counties, but now it has established itself in Middlesex County.

"It used to be, when we started our program, the majority of tick bites coming in were blacklegged (deer) ticks," said Andrea Egizi, a research scientist with Monmouth County Mosquito Control Division. "Right around 2012 that changed, and now the majority of tick bites are from Lone Star ticks."

Watch the video above to learn what to do before and after hiking to protect you and your family from ticks.

Egizi works at the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory at Rutgers University, grinding up a couple hundred ticks at a time into a "tick soup," as she describes it.

She does this not for a sort of catharsis that we all might get from mashing up scores of these pests, but in order to identify the pathogens present in their bodies. These are the diseases that they may spread to the human population through their bites.

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The creep of the stalking Lone Star tick is "concerning," Egizi said, because it can transmit a bacterial illness that is sometimes fatal.

Most ticks perch on a blade of grass with four of their eight arms outstretched, waiting for an animal or human to brush by so they can scamper aboard. This is called "questing."

The Lone Star tick will quest, but it won't wait idly by for food to come to it. This tick is a hunter, following the trail of carbon dioxide that we emit when we exhale.

"The Lone Star tick is the most aggressive tick we have on the East Coast by far," said Alvaro Toledo, an entomology professor at Rutgers and tick expert. "if they don't find a host around, they will seek for one. If they see movement, if they see (carbon dioxide) — they will chase you, and they will bite you."

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The ticks of New Jersey

Below are the three tick species found in the Garden State that are dangerous to humans and the diseases associated with each. More on each of those diseases in the next section.

Blacklegged 'deer' tick

What it spreads: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis

Where it lives: The deer tick can be found in rural and suburban areas throughout the state.

Lone Star tick

What it spreads: Ehrlichiosis, Alpha-gal syndrome

Where it lives: These bad boys have been creeping northward. This year, they were found in abundance in Middlesex County for the first time.

American Dog tick

What it spreads: Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Where it lives: This year's Tick Blitz confirmed their presence across the state.

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Lyme disease and other illnesses

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S., with 25,000 to 30,000 cases diagnosed each year, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Even still, it is vastly underreported, Toledo said. Perhaps as many as 300,000 people contract the disease annually, but few come forward to report it.

The risks of not seeking treatment for Lyme disease are severe as the bacteria targets the brain, nervous system, eyes, joints and heart, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Some of the effects can be chronic and unstoppable.

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The number of New Jerseyans (5,092) who contracted Lyme disease last year was the highest since 2000, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

More new cases were diagnosed in Monmouth County (550) last year than anywhere else in the state, except for Morris County.

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Other diseases transmitted by ticks in New Jersey include

Alpha-gal syndrome : Three to six hours after consuming beef, pork, lamb and other red meats, people with this allergy might experience a tightness in their airway and a drop in blood pressure. These allergic reactions can be severe — sometimes fatal — and difficult to initially diagnose.

: Three to six hours after consuming beef, pork, lamb and other red meats, people with this allergy might experience a tightness in their airway and a drop in blood pressure. These allergic reactions can be severe — sometimes fatal — and difficult to initially diagnose. Anaplasmosis : Though rarely fatal, this bacterial disease can be quite uncomfortable as symptoms include fever, cough, muscle pain, abdominal pain, nausea, headache and more. These signs of infection usually reveal themselves within a week or two of the bite.

: Though rarely fatal, this bacterial disease can be quite uncomfortable as symptoms include fever, cough, muscle pain, abdominal pain, nausea, headache and more. These signs of infection usually reveal themselves within a week or two of the bite. Babesiosis : Microscopic parasites conveyed through the tick bite attack red blood cells causing symptoms similar to that of the flu — fever, chills, weakness, nausea, headache, body ache — and can begin as soon as a week after the tick bite or as long as two months later. Rarely life-threatening, the infection is usually treated with prescription medications.

: Microscopic parasites conveyed through the tick bite attack red blood cells causing symptoms similar to that of the flu — fever, chills, weakness, nausea, headache, body ache — and can begin as soon as a week after the tick bite or as long as two months later. Rarely life-threatening, the infection is usually treated with prescription medications. Ehrlichiosis : One or two weeks after a bite, victims will experience fever, headache, red eyes, lack of energy, muscle pain and confusion. Most children develop a rash, as do some adults. This disease can be fatal — nearly 1 in 50 die as a result.

: One or two weeks after a bite, victims will experience fever, headache, red eyes, lack of energy, muscle pain and confusion. Most children develop a rash, as do some adults. This disease can be fatal — nearly 1 in 50 die as a result. Rocky Mountain spotted fever: This disease can be deadly — 1 in 4 who contract RMSF end up in the hospital. All the previous symptoms are here, including fever and headache, but RMSF comes with a distinctive splotchy rash that sets in a couple days after the fever starts. This particular form of rickettsia is pretty rare in New Jersey.

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com, @russzimmer