Exclusive | Tick, mosquito plagues could suck New York dry this summer heres how to keep yourself safe

There could be a serious up-tick.The Big Apple is about to be bled dry — and not just because of ferocious tax hikes.This spring and summer, NYC could see an influx of biblical levels of disease-harboring ticks and mosquitoes, borne aloft by warming weather and booming vector populations.It’s enough to have locals itching for an escape from the city.Tick bites have been sending people to the emergency room at the highest rate in nearly a decade, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.In early April, 71 out of every 100,000 emergency room visits were for tick bites — with the lion’s share concentrated in the Northeast.And that’s just the tick of the iceberg.For every 100,000 ER visits in the Northeast, 163 were related to ticks, up from 52 in March.“It wouldn’t surprise me if we see more ticks this year than last,” Byron Backenson, director of the Bureau of Communicable Disease Control at the New York State Department of Health, told The Post.Although more common in the bucolic fields of the Hudson Valley and elsewhere upstate, tick populations have cropped up in all five boroughs, according to Fox News.Backenson has heard reports of the eight-legged parasites infiltrating Central Park and Prospect Park, which wouldn’t come as a surprise, considering a Columbia University study found that ticks now inhabit 70% of NYC parks and are even latching onto Gothamites’ prized pooches.What’s to blame for the tick, tick … boom? Experts point to a confluence of factors, including a spike in host animals.

In 2023, a bumper crop of acorns caused an uptick in the numbers of deer, mice and other prime tick prey.Warming temps (the mercury hit a record 90 degrees in Central Park on April 15) could also extend tick season, which traditionally runs from March until November, with peak activity from April to September.“Our spring comes earlier and fall ends later, we definitely see the ticks are active for longer periods of time,” B...