The warmer weather means tick season is upon us, and tick activity in Ontario is on the rise.
In Chatham-Kent, there are multiple species of ticks that can be found.
"Mainly American dog ticks and black legged ticks, but we also in Ontario have squirrel ticks, groundhog ticks, and lone star ticks we tend to find," said Kurt Clemons, Public Health Inspector with the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit (CKPHU). "Although whether they're well-established populations or not is still sort of up for debate."
But the tick the health unit is really worried about is the blacklegged tick.
"Ticks can spread diseases, and the blacklegged tick is responsible for spreading a few different diseases, but in Ontario, our big concern is Lyme disease," said Clemons.
In Chatham-Kent, blacklegged ticks are known to reside in Rondeau Provincial Park and in a wooded area near Thamesville.
"Tick activity across Ontario is on the rise. Cases, human reported cases of Lyme disease have also been trending upward in Ontario and Canada for several years, and we've been seeing more tick activity in other locations as well," said Clemons.
The best way to protect yourself from Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. That includes wearing bug spray with DEET or Icaridin when outdoors, wearing long sleeves and pants, avoiding walking through long grass, showering within two hours of spending time outdoors and checking yourself for ticks.
So, what do you do if you do find a tick attached to you? Remove it right away.
"Remove it using fine-tip tweezers; you just get as close to the mouth as possible and pull directly away from your skin," said Clemons. "Then once you do that, you can put it in a container, you can bring it into Chatham-Kent Public Health, and we'll do our best to identify it for you and let you know next steps."
The health unit is located at 177 King Street East in Chatham and is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
If it is a blacklegged tick, and it's been attached for more than 24 hours, public health officials will advise you on next steps.
"We're going to probably recommend you consult with a physician or healthcare provider, because they can administer a single dose of antibiotics. There's really strong evidence that one dose of antibiotics will significantly reduce your chance of developing the illness to begin with, if you get there within 72 hours after that exposure," said Clemons.
The CKPHU actively collects ticks in areas where there have been reports of blacklegged ticks and sends those ticks for Lyme disease testing. This allows the province to identify new areas where Lyme disease is a risk.
For more information on ticks in Chatham-Kent, visit www.ckpublichealth.com/thegreatoutdoors.