Assessment of costs for implementation of park specific tick management plans for selected high-use recreational areas in Monmouth County, New Jersey

Tick-borne diseases are a major public health threat in the United States, with Lyme disease being the most commonly reported vector-borne disease. Tick-bite prevention is predominantly focused on education and the use of repellents. Currently, the use of tick control interventions is rare, particularly on public properties, in part because deployment costs can be difficult to determine. This study focused on New Jersey, where both Ixodes scapularis Say and Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) are common throughout much of the state and there is a high incidence of tick-borne diseases. Ten high-use public parks in Monmouth County with high tick abundance were selected to develop tick management plans and assess their implementation cost. We calculated the cost of applying acaricides along trails and the margins of recreational fields where tick habitat is abundant, as well as the cost of deploying 4-Poster Tick Control Deer Feeders (hereafter, 4-Posters) to treat deer with acaricides. The total projected annual cost for focal acaricide treatments in all 10 parks ranged from $23,251 (low-end estimate) to $46,500 (high-end estimate). The use of 4-Posters (without other interventions), with potential for tick suppression across the landscape, was more expensive, estimated to cost $461,970 annually for a sustained program including all 10 parks. Using current tick control methods, area-wide control is considerably more expensive than more focal control efforts. This research provides local land managers with cost estimates for tick control and provides a guide for estimating the cost of deployment as new methods are developed.