Important health and safety reminders during the active tick season

With the official start of summer just around the corner, many are spending more time outdoors in areas where ticks are active. HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals, along with Prevea Health, offer the following tips and reminders to help everyone recognize and treat tick-related incidents.

Ticks live in wooded areas and areas with high grass, and crawl on to people and animals as they brush against leaves or grass. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, there are two common types of ticks that spread disease to animals and humans: deer (black-legged) ticks and wood (dog) ticks. Wood ticks have whitish markings on the body, while deer ticks are reddish to dark brown in appearance without white markings. Deer ticks are also usually smaller.

Deer ticks are a known carrier of Lyme disease. Wisconsin had 3,105 estimated cases of Lyme disease in 2018, and the average number of reported cases has more than doubled over the last 10 years. With Lyme disease, illness usually occurs within 3 to 30 days after being exposed to an infected deer tick. Symptoms may include rash, flu-like symptoms (headache, fever, muscle aches and joint pain) and enlarged lymph nodes.

See the full article by Jerry Kirkhart here.