MINNEAPOLIS - New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show insect related illness has tripled over the last 15 years.
Between 2004 and 2016, more than 640,000 Americans were sicked by mosquitos, ticks and flees.
During that time period researchers also discovered nine new germs that can be transmitted to humans by insects.
The most commonly contracted diseases include Lyme Disease, West Nile, Zika and dengue.
Here in Minnesota, mosquitos get all most of the attention, but experts say you should be more worried about ticks this Memorial Day weekend.
"This is kind of peak tick season right now," Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) spokesman Mike McLean says.
Ticks will be out in full force this holiday weekend.
Bug experts say the long winter slowed them down a bit, but they're now emerging in droves from their snowy slumber.
"What the statistics have shown over the years is an increase in Lyme Disease transmission," McLean says.
That increase in Lyme Disease transmission isn't just because bug experts are seeing more ticks.
McLean says the ticks MMCD staff have tested in recent years show a higher rate of carrying Lyme Disease.
"People tend to ignore it," McLean says. "If they go out in the woods, they've been camping, they don't feel so hot, they get over it."
But the threat has become too serious for Minnesotans to ignore, McLean says.
According to the CDC, Minnesota currently ranks 7th in the nation for tick-related illness.
Since 2004, more than 26,000 people contracted tick-related illnesses like Lyme Disease.
Minnesotans tend to worry more about mosquitoes this time of year, but the CDC says mosquitoes were only responsible for about 1,500 illnesses in Minnesota over the same time period.
"We don't see as much of the diseases, like West Nile, as they do further south," McLean explains.
The MMCD is now spraying larva in hopes of slowing down the mosquito population later this summer.
McLean says mosquitoes won't be out in full force until July and August.
But with ticks, the threat is here right now, which is why health officials encourage people who are heading to the lake, or to the woods this weekend, to dress for ticks and wear repellent.
"Make sure you wear something that has permethrin in it," McLean says.
Bug experts say you should be on the lookout for ticks in Wisconsin too.
According to the CDC, Wisconsin ranks one spot higher than Minnesota for tick-related illness.