Ticks and Lyme Disease

Information from Mass.gov:

Ticks are tiny bugs most likely found in shady, damp, brushy, wooded, or grassy areas (especially in tall grass), including your own backyard. In Massachusetts, certain kinds of ticks can bite you and spread diseases like Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan virus.

One of the most important things you can do is check yourself for ticks once a day. Favorite places ticks like to go on your body include areas between the toes, back of the knees, groin, armpits, and neck, along the hairline, and behind the ears. Remember to check your children and pets, too. Remove any attached ticks as soon as possible.

When going outside to an area likely to have ticks:

Stick to main pathways and the center of trails when hiking.

Wear a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt with long pants and tuck your pants into your socks. This may be difficult to do when the weather is hot, but it will help keep ticks away from your skin and make it easier to spot a tick on your clothing.

Use bug repellents. Repellents that contain DEET can be used on your exposed skin. Permethrin is a product that can be used on your clothes. Always follow the product instructions and use repellents with no more than 30-35% DEET on adults and 10-15% DEET on children. Never use insect repellents on infants. 

Although tick activity is weather dependent, there are two peaks during the year; the first begins in March/April and lasts through August, and the second occurs in October-November.

The majority of cases of tick-borne disease occur in June through August.

For more information, check the following websites:

www.aldf.com; www.cdc.gov; https://www.mass.gov/mosquitoes-and-ticks