TickZone

Tick risk in Des Moines County, Iowa

Des Moines County covers 5 towns. CDC reports too few cases here to publish a county Lyme rate, but each town still has a daily score built from local weather, habitat, and season. Pick your town below for today's reading.

Highest and lowest tick risk in Des Moines County

Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.

At the summer peak, tick risk across Des Moines County runs from Burlington (low) at the high end to Mediapolis (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 10% to 35%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tick species in Des Moines County

CDC county surveillance (established or reported)

  • Deer tickEstablished
  • American dog tickEstablished
  • Lone star tickReported
  • Gulf Coast tickNot established

Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Des Moines County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.

Diseases found in local ticks

No CDC tick-testing records for Des Moines County. That is a surveillance gap, not a sign these diseases are absent. Lyme and other tickborne illnesses occur across the region.

Tick control in Des Moines County, IA

Professional tick control across Des Moines County usually means a barrier treatment along the lawn edge, leaf litter, stone walls, and shady borders where ticks wait for a host, applied two to four times a season by a licensed pest control company. It is the single most effective way to cut tick numbers in the part of the yard your family actually uses, and it matters most in Des Moines County's more wooded towns.

How much does tick control cost in Des Moines County?

Most Des Moines County homeowners pay about $100 to $200 per visit for professional tick spraying, or roughly $350 to $600 for a full season of barrier treatments, depending on lot size and how wooded the property is. Quotes are free, so it costs nothing to get a real number for your yard.

Get a free tick control quote

From a vetted local tick exterminator serving Des Moines County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Des Moines County

Which towns in Des Moines County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Burlington carries the highest modeled tick risk in Des Moines County, followed by Middletown, Danville, West Burlington, Mediapolis. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Des Moines County ranges from 10% to 35%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Mediapolis sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Des Moines County?

CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Des Moines County: Deer tick, American dog tick. The blacklegged (deer) tick is the main carrier of Lyme disease in the Northeast. "Not established" for a species means there is no CDC surveillance record for the county, not that the tick is absent.

Is Lyme disease common in Des Moines County?

CDC reports too few cases in Des Moines County to publish a stable county Lyme rate, which is common in rural or low-population counties. That does not mean the risk is zero: Lyme and other tickborne illnesses occur across the Northeast.

All towns in Des Moines County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.