Powassan Virus Prevalence in New York Deer Tick Nymphs

New York State (excluding New York City) provides surveillance data on Powassan virus in nymph deer ticks collected from May to September beginning in 2009. The dataset includes county-level metrics such as Tick Population Density, Minimum Infection Rate, Pools Tested, and Pools Positive. It is published by health.data.ny.gov and was last updated in May 2025.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of Powassan virus Minimum Infection Rate across New York Counties from 2009 onward.
• Correlate Tick Population Density with environmental factors using County Location and Year fields.
• Model annual risk trends by joining Pools Tested and Pools Positive data with Year and County.
• Assess surveillance effort intensity by mapping Total Sites Visited and Total Ticks Collected per county.

Strengths

• Data collection spans from 2009 to the present, providing over a decade of longitudinal surveillance.
• Includes multiple spatial identifiers like County, County Location, and NYS Senate Districts for granular analysis.
• Reports key public health metrics such as Minimum Infection Rate and Tick Population Density.

Limitations

• Data is limited to nymph ticks collected only from May to September each year.
• Excludes New York City, creating a geographic gap in statewide coverage.
• Infection rates are calculated from pooled samples (up to 10 ticks per pool), which may obscure individual tick infection status.

Provenance

Source

health.data.ny.gov

Collection Method

Collection and testing of nymph deer ticks across New York State (excluding NYC).

Time Range

2009 to present

Freshness

Updated regularly, with last update in May 2025.

Geography

New York State, excluding New York City