The All-Season Tick

Tick safety is now a year-round drill

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

In terms of ticks, have you been thinking you were off the worry hook for a few months? That winter was a Lyme-free zone? Me, too. But not so according to health officials from the Maine Center for Disease Control. Deer ticks can be active anytime the temperature is above freezing. These disease carriers go into a low-energy state when temperatures dip below freezing BUT they can thaw out very quickly.
 
With climate change and unseasonably warm winters, tick safety is now officially a year-round drill so don’t stick your head in the sand or a snowbank. As always, the best protection against ticks is to treat outer wear with permethrin, especially pants; tuck in your shirt; check for ticks when you get back inside; and throw clothes in a hot dryer for 5 – 10 minutes before washing.
 
It may be hard to allow into our mental model of how things should be (nature should be our sanctuary!) but our tick reality is changing: for the second year in a row there has been a record number of Lyme disease cases in Maine along with other worrisome -- and worse -- tick-borne illnesses like the Powassan virus, and babesiosis and anaplasmosis. Consequently, the CDC is reminding the provider community to consider tick-borne diseases in patients with fever, headache, joint pain and fatigue who don’t present with the classic bull’s eye rash. Something we all need to consider.
 
Stay safe,
 
E