This Rare Tick-borne Disease Is on the Rise in the U.S.

If a tick latches onto your skin — an increasingly common occurrence in much of the United States this time of year — your first concern might be Lyme disease, the most frequently transmitted tick-borne illness. But the same ticks that carry Lyme, deer ticks, are also vectors for other pathogens, one of which can pose an even more serious threat: Powassan virus.

Cases of Powassan virus disease in New Jersey and New Hampshire have made national headlines in recent months because of the potential severity of the symptoms, which can include neurological problems such as memory loss, difficulty speaking and seizures. That's because Powassan can enter the central nervous system and cause encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, which is inflammation of the tissues surrounding the brain, said Saravanan Thangamani, professor of microbiology and immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University and director of the SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases.

Though Powassan virus disease is quite rare, there's been an uptick in cases in recent years. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows seven reported cases in the United States in 2015; in 2025, that number was 76.

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