Hiking has so many benefits.
It’s healthy and fun, everyone’s doing it on Instagram, and it’s the perfect time
to snap some aggressively enthusiastic nature pics for your Tinder profile.
But, before you rush into the woods with a selfie-stick or hang out in the fields you
need to be aware of these little bastards.
Tickborne diseases are on the rise.
Cases of Lyme disease in particular have almost tripled in the last two decades in the US.
Why are there so many more ticks in the country?
Researchers point to climate change as one of the main reasons.
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne
disease in the US.
The bacteria typically lives in mice, birds, deer, and other animals that ticks like to
feed on.
But it finds its way to humans when infected ticks casually latch on to them in wooded areas.
The bacteria enters the human system via tick bites — though in most cases, the tick must
be attached to the skin for 36 hours or more for the disease to be transmitted.
Lyme disease has a variety of symptoms at various stages including: fever, headache,
fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and the classic bulls-eye rash.
Catching the disease early is crucial so antibiotics can be used to treat Lyme.
But if it’s left untreated the infection can spread to other parts of the body like
the heart and the brain and the effects can be much more dangerous.
In some cases, though, the disease can mysteriously persist for years even after treatment and
researchers haven’t figured out why.
Lyme can be incredibly hard to diagnose.
But all kinds of ticks don’t make you sick.
This map shows Lyme disease carrying ticks in the US — the western black legged tick
along the Pacific coast, and the black legged tick in the northeast and upper midwest.
You can see the increasing concentration of Lyme cases on the Eastern Seaboard from 2001
through 2015.
And the CDC states that, 95% of confirmed cases were reported from these 14 states.
Researchers believe climate change has a lot to do with this dramatic rise of Lyme disease
in the Northeast.
See ticks don’t survive in cold climates, so warmer winters are allowing them to venture
further up north.
Higher temperatures are also boosting their reproduction cycle.
Among other explanations, the increase in deer populations because of hunting protections
is one of them.
And reforestation of former farmlands in the Northeast is also giving ticks more hosts
to feed ... and reproduce on?
Damn.
Ticks are having sex on deer and
Carlos can't even get a date right now.
Carlos off-camera: Yes, I can!
Me: Heyyy! Right! Lyme disease!
Uhhhh, people are also moving further into the suburbs which puts them closer to tick territory in
wooded areas.
A weird additional factor that's helped spread Lyme disease is the recent abundance
of acorns in the US.
More acorns means more food for mice, and increased mice populations means more hosts
to carry Lyme-infected ticks.
So what do you do when you're dying for that communing-with-nature-selfie, but you don’t
want to be the dinner host to guests who actually suck the life out of you?
Well, before you head outdoors you can treat your clothes and shoes with an insecticide
called permethrin.
Using insect repellents containing DEET or picaridin, is also suggested by the CDC.
Wearing light-colored clothing, long-sleeved shirts, and hats make it easier to spot ticks.
And though it’s not the most fashionable statement, tucking your pants into your socks
or boots helps too.
When you’re back indoors, showering within two hours, and doing a full body check for ticks is in order.
I’m talking scalp, elbows, knees, buttche...you get the picture.
Check your clothes for ticks, then toss those in the dryer.
And if you find a tick attached?
Now is not the time for folklore remedies, the tick needs to be removed ASAP.
Remove it with fine tipped tweezers.
And watch for Lyme disease symptoms over the next few weeks.
Lastly, don’t panic if you find out you’re a total tick magnet.
Carlos off camera: Gross.
[whispers] Yeah...Sor...my bad .. my bad...
The most important thing is being aware of possible bug-a-boo... I mean ticks in your
vicinity and the measures you can take to protect yourself from Lyme disease.