Dutch people remove ticks faster than ten years ago. This is evident from research by Tekenradar.nl. In 2024, half of the ticks were removed within 11 hours. In 2014, this was still within 14 hours. It is important that this time is short. The sooner you remove a tick, the lower the chance of Lyme disease.
For more than 10 years, thousands of people from all over the Netherlands report their tick bites via Tekenradar.nl annually. Since 2013, reporters have been asked how long the tick has been embedded in the skin. From these reports, it appears that half of the ticks in 2024 were removed within eleven hours. A quarter of the people had already removed the tick within four hours. A quarter of the people had the tick for more than 24 hours, and sometimes even for days before it was removed.
Ten years ago, it took longer for a tick to be removed. Back then, half of the people removed a tick within 14 hours after the bite. A quarter of the people had removed the tick within 5 hours, and a quarter of the people left a tick for longer than 26 hours.
Decrease is positive, but...
The sooner you remove a tick, the lower the chance of Lyme disease. “It’s good that we are now removing ticks faster,” says RIVM researcher Kees van den Wijngaard. “But we are not there yet because since 2016 we have not seen a clear further shortening of the removal time. The advice remains to remove a tick as soon as possible after a bite. It is also important to notice a tick in time. Hence the slogan of the Tick Week (external link) has been for years: After a visit to the greenery, do a tick check.
Drenthe Back in First Place
In 2024, Dutch people reported a total of 6,035 tick bites. Most reports (1,023 tick bites) came from Gelderland. “But we also received hundreds of reports from other provinces,” says biologist Arnold van Vliet from Wageningen University. “The province of Drenthe had by far the most reports per 100,000 inhabitants, just like in previous years. The 99 per 100,000 was also clearly higher than the 71 from last year. Gelderland is in second place with 48, and Groningen with 45 reports per 100,000 in third place. South Holland had the lowest number with 12 reports of tick bites per 100,000 inhabitants.
Strong Increase in the Coming Two Months
In recent weeks, the number of tick bites has slowly increased due to rising temperatures. The numbers still lag behind last year. This is probably because February and March 2024 were the warmest ever. In the next two months, the number of tick bites is expected to increase significantly. It is unclear how large the tick population is this year. This will also determine how many people will be bitten. Our behavior in the greenery also plays a role, which is again partly determined by the weather.
MReport tick bites via Tekenradar.nl
Everyone can report tick bites and Lyme symptoms via Tekenradar.nl (external link) (opens in a new window). “This way, we know where and when people experience the most tick bites,” explains Van den Wijngaard. “And we can better help people protect themselves against it.” Since 2022, we have been asking people to report weekly whether or not they have been bitten in the previous week. This gives us a better picture of the risk of tick bites throughout the year.