This summer certainly is more enjoyable than the Covid-19 summer of 2020. We can finally enjoy outdoor activities like biking, walking, and barbecuing. There are several things that health experts warn us to avoid during the summer months: too much sun, dehydration, and certain insects and arachnids. “When disease-carrying mosquitoes reach a new area in the U.S., there are standard public health responses, including population control methods, with cities, towns, and counties conducting mosquito abatement campaigns.” While there are other disease carrying creatures, they are unfortunately not handled with the same urgency as mosquitoes.
One arachnid that carries dangerous diseases is the tick. Ticks can spread more than 65 diseases, many of them serious. They include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever and other tick borne diseases. Ticks are not relegated to woodlands or farmlands, they also proliferate in urban and suburban areas. The Cook Country Forest Preserve wants people to visit their beautiful forests and fields but warns against the dangers of tick bites. Their website also includes information about removing ticks from humans and pets.
Up close and personal pictures of a tick bite victim.
