If you live in the New England region (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island), you should look out for ticks, as the tiny parasitic arachnids are back in business after a while. Experts believe that a late-summer drought was the culprit for the ticks’ disappearance, but the arachnids are now looking for vengeance.The news about the return of ticks in New England is brought by APNews.com, and those living in other parts of the world where the tiny creatures are not present, should consider themselves lucky. Some ticks transmit Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. However, Lyme disease cannot be transmitted if a tick doesn’t remain attached to the body for at least 36 hours. If you get infected with Lyme disease, and you don’t treat it, you can get chronic joint inflammation (Lyme arthritis), neurologic symptoms such as neuropathy and even cognitive flaws like impaired memory.
Going out more is risky
Sure, everybody enjoys some fresh air, especially after lockdowns. But as it usually goes in life, there are also some downsides, and one of them is the exposure to being bitten by a tick.
Patti Casey, who’s an environmental surveillance program manager for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, declared:
People are outdoors a lot more because of COVID so we’ve all discovered this newfound love relationship with nature, which is really cool and I’m really happy about. So there’s just a lot more chances for … human interactions with ticks.
Until May 18, Maine CDC reported about 100 new cases of Lyme disease. The agency says that those who spend time outside should use repellent and wear light-coloured clothing that can cover arms and legs.
