If you are asking, “is there ticks in Alaska,” the short answer is yes. Native wildlife ticks live in the state, and non-native ticks can arrive on dogs, cats, people, luggage, livestock, or outdoor gear.
Your risk of encountering a disease-carrying tick is generally lower than in many parts of the Lower 48. Checking yourself and your pets after outdoor trips remains worthwhile.
A tick sighting does not automatically mean there is a local disease threat. The species, its origin, whether it is established in Alaska, and your recent travel all matter.
Alaska’s tick information and surveillance program identifies submitted specimens and tracks possible changes.
What Tick Sightings Mean in Alaska
Ticks in Alaska include native wildlife parasites and occasional introductions carried by animals or travelers. A single tick only shows it reached an area, not that it has formed a self-sustaining population.
Native Ticks and Their Wildlife Hosts
The squirrel and hare tick, Ixodes angustus, is native to Alaska. It commonly feeds on squirrels, hares, and other wildlife, though it can occasionally attach to a dog, cat, or person near those hosts.
Finding Ixodes angustus does not mean the blacklegged tick, also called the deer tick, is widespread in Alaska. These are different species with different habitats and disease associations.
Introduced Ticks Carried by Pets and Travel
Traveling dogs often bring in non-native ticks. Examples include the American dog tick, the brown dog tick, and the Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni.
People, livestock, wildlife, vehicles, and camping gear can also transport ticks. Inspect your pets before and after travel, especially after visiting areas where ticks are common.
Removing an attached tick promptly can reduce the chance of it feeding, surviving, or reproducing locally.
Where Sightings Have Been Reported
Communities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Sitka have reported ticks. These reports may represent isolated introductions rather than established populations.
You can preserve a found tick and submit it through Alaska’s Submit-A-Tick program. Include where and when you found it, whether it was attached, its host, and any recent travel history.
Disease Risk and Common Misconceptions
A tick bite does not automatically cause illness, and not every tick carries the same pathogens. Your practical risk depends on the species, its previous host, time attached, location, symptoms, and travel history.
Lyme Disease and the Blacklegged Tick
Lyme disease is not considered a routinely established local transmission risk across Alaska. The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is also called the deer tick and is strongly associated with Lyme disease transmission in parts of the Lower 48.
An attached tick may have traveled with you or your pet from a region where Lyme disease circulates. Contact a clinician if you develop a spreading rash, fever, headache, unusual fatigue, or muscle aches after a bite, and mention recent travel.
Other Illnesses Associated With Ticks Elsewhere
Depending on the species and geography, ticks elsewhere can transmit anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, or tularemia. A lone star tick can also be associated with illnesses outside Alaska, though finding one in the state does not establish a local disease cycle.
Pets may show different signs than people. Contact your veterinarian if your dog develops weakness, stumbling, breathing changes, fever, appetite loss, or unusual behavior after a tick exposure.
Why Travel History Matters
An imported tick may have fed on an infected host before arriving in Alaska. Your recent trips, your pet’s travel, and the location where you found the tick help a clinician or veterinarian judge whether testing or monitoring is appropriate.
Record the date of the bite, save the tick if possible, and note how long it was attached. A photograph can help document the bite, though professional identification is more reliable than guessing from an image.
Prevention, Removal, and Reporting
Simple tick prevention protects you, your pets, and Alaska’s wildlife. Check carefully after hiking, camping, hunting, brush clearing, handling wildlife, or returning from travel.
Tick Prevention for People and Pets
Wear long pants and tuck them into socks when you enter brush or tall vegetation. Use an EPA-registered repellent as directed.
Inspect your ankles, waist, scalp, ears, underarms, and behind your knees, then shower and wash clothing when practical. Check pets around the face, neck, collar, toes, and between the legs.
Ask your veterinarian which preventive product fits your dog or cat, especially before travel to the Lower 48.
What To Do After Finding an Attached Tick
Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to your skin as possible. Pull upward with steady pressure.
Clean the bite and your hands with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. Do not use heat, petroleum jelly, or twisting techniques.
Place the tick in a sealed container, freeze it, or preserve it in alcohol. Follow the Alaska tick surveillance results and submission guidance for identification.
Protecting Alaska Wildlife From Winter Ticks
Winter ticks, sometimes called moose ticks, can affect moose far more severely than an occasional tick bite affects you. Heavy infestations cause irritation, hair loss, blood loss, heat loss, and reduced feeding. Calves are especially vulnerable.
If you see a moose with extensive hair loss or repeated scratching, report the observation to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Keep your distance and never attempt to handle the animal or remove its ticks.
