CHICAGO (WLS) — Experts said Illinoisans should be aware of the increase in ticks in the state.

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“We’re sort of on the edge of an invasion,” Northwest Mosquito Abatement District Medical Entomologist Patrick Irwin said.

Irwin said of the nearly 250 square miles that he covers, almost half of the ticks they surveillance we’re positive for Lyme disease.

“When we looked at the number of ticks that we got, you know, four years ago, it was very small compared to what we’re seeing now,” Irwin said.

A new study out of the University of Illinois shows multiple counties recording three different types of ticks: the lone star tick, the dog tick and the black legged tick.

“I’m seeing lone star ticks and even gulf coast ticks, which have been traditionally more southern species, are slowly expanding their range up north and where we haven’t seen those species around here before,” Forest Preserve District Of DuPage County Jennifer Rydzewski said.

Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Illinois Becky Smith says they found between 2018 and 2022 there were over 1,700 human cases with Lyme disease infections.

“Deer is a big factor,” Smith said. “Deer provides such a good blood meal that they’re able to make a lot of eggs, and so then there’s a lot of babies, and so there’s just more ticks.”

Smith said Illinois could ses more cases of tick-borne disease. She says that she doesn’t think that it’s possible to stop the invasion of ticks, but it is possible to stop the disease.

“The disease happens because people are bitten by ticks, and they don’t find the ticks and remove them before they get the disease gets transmitted,” Smith said.

Experts say people don’t need to avoid going camping or hunting, where most of the infections happen.

Those who are going to spend time outdoors should wear extra-long pants, use permethrin spray and shower when going back indoors and do a thorough tick check.

The experts added that if a tick does get embedded in the skin, it takes about 24 hours before a disease gets transmitted.