MANKATO — It’s spring and you’re likely eager to get out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. But pause: Warmer weather also ushers in pests like ticks, which can carry bacteria, viruses and parasites.
We’re “right in it,” when it comes to tick season, said epidemiologist Elizabeth Schiffman, vectorborne diseases unit supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Health. “Typically we say the highest risk time of year in Minnesota for people to come across ticks is the later part of spring and early summer. Things started in April, in May and in June. It’s the prime time people will encounter ticks.”
Alex Carlson, public affairs manager for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District, agreed, saying, “Tick season is pretty long, but it tends to start around the end of April to the start of May when temperatures are consistently above freezing and there’s not a lot of snowcover.”
Carlson predicts an average tick season this year. We have had a decent amount of rain, which allows ticks to “bounce back,” he said. But our cold winter will have killed some off, too.
“It’ll be an average year is what people will see,” he said.
Schiffman said it’s hard to predict how many ticks we’ll face this tick season.
“We say we just know there will be ticks,” she said.
As for where you’re most likely threatened with picking up a tick, the experts agree: Woody and brushy areas are where they’re lying in wait. They were once concentrated in south and southeast Minnesota “but now they’re pretty widespread,” Carlson said.
Anywhere there’s long grasses can foster ticks. And they’re prevalent in wooded areas, he said.
“Ticks don’t like to be out in the open, so you’ll find blacklegged ticks in areas that have woods or good brushy areas,” Schiffman said. “Not so much in fields or manicured lawns.”
Minnesota’s two most common ticks are the wood tick and the deer tick, Carlson said. The wood tick rarely spreads any diseases; it mostly just causes an itchy bump. But the deer tick, also known as the black-legged tick, can spread Lyme disease and anaplasmosis as well as several other diseases.
There’s also a lesser-known threat concerning experts, Schiffman told MPR. That’s the Powassan virus. It’s viral and there is no vaccine or cure. The virus is found most commonly in blacklegged or deer ticks and can be deadly to humans.
There were 14 confirmed cases of Powassan virus in Minnesota last year.
Tick precautions to take are after being in a tick habitat, check yourself over. And methods for avoiding ticks are wearing bug spray and tucking your pants into your socks are also recommended.
“Anything that keeps ticks off you,” Schiffman said. “Repellant is the first step. If you say, oh, I better grab the sunscreen, it’s probably a good idea to grab your bug repellant as well.”
If you find a tick on yourself, don’t panic, she said.
“The biggest thing is to stay calm and get the tick off as soon as possible. Remove it with your fingers or a tweezers.”
You’ll know you’ve likely developed a tick-borne illness if you develop symptoms such as a fever, rash, headaches or body aches.
“Then it’s a good idea to reach out to your health care provider,” Schiffman said. “Tell them you did find a tick and talk to them about next steps. So get the tick off, first. And then watch and wait for symptoms.”