Louisiana · South

Tick risk in Rapides Parish, Louisiana

Rapides Parish covers 11 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 Rapides Parish

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Rapides Parish runs from Glenmora (moderate) at the high end to Woodworth (moderate) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 21% to 84%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tick species in Rapides Parish

CDC county surveillance (established or reported)

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

Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Rapides Parish, 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 Rapides Parish. That is a surveillance gap, not a sign these diseases are absent. Lyme and other tickborne illnesses occur across the region.

Tick control in Rapides Parish, LA

Professional tick control across Rapides Parish 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 Rapides Parish's more wooded towns.

How much does tick control cost in Rapides Parish?

Most Rapides Parish 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 Rapides Parish. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Rapides Parish

Which towns in Rapides Parish have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Glenmora carries the highest modeled tick risk in Rapides Parish, followed by Boyce, Lecompte, Forest Hill, Ball. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Rapides Parish ranges from 21% to 84%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Woodworth sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Rapides Parish?

CDC surveillance records 3 established tick species in Rapides Parish: Deer tick, Lone star tick, Gulf Coast tick. The lone star tick is the tick most responsible for human bites here, and its bite causes alpha-gal syndrome; the blacklegged (deer) tick, the main Lyme carrier, is a minor factor this far south. "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 Rapides Parish?

CDC reports too few cases in Rapides Parish to publish a stable county Lyme rate, which is common in rural or low-population counties, and typical this far south. That does not mean the risk is zero: the lone star tick, not Lyme, is the bigger local concern.

Does Rapides Parish have lone star ticks that cause alpha-gal syndrome?

Yes. The lone star tick is established in Rapides Parish and is the tick most responsible for human bites in the county. Its bite can trigger alpha-gal syndrome, a delayed allergy to red meat and other mammal products, along with ehrlichiosis and STARI. Learn the symptoms and what foods to avoid.

All towns in Rapides Parish

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.

Tick risk where you live

Tick activity is local and changes daily. Pick your state for tick season dates, the species that live there, and a daily tick-risk score for every town.