After a surprisingly mild winter and an early emergence of insects in early spring, many northern Minnesotans are worried about what kind of tick and mosquito activity the warmer months will bring.
Dr. Jon Oliver is an assistant professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota. He studies vector-borne diseases, including diseases transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes. He spoke with WTIP about the risks insect bites can pose.
Oliver said preventing insect bites is key. However, if a person is bitten by a tick, the most important thing is to remove it quickly. For Lyme disease, this is particularly important, because during the first 24 hours a tick is attached, it is unlikely to transmit the disease to a human. For this reason, frequent tick checks are helpful in preventing an attached tick from transmitting the disease to a person. In the case of mosquitoes, as the bite and transmission are much faster, the priority is to prevent the bite.
Cook County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) provides insect sting prevention education each year. Public health educator Andrea Tofte told WTIP that there are several ways to avoid tick bites. She recommends clothing that largely covers the skin and the use of insect repellent. She said there are a wide range of repellents available, from DEET-based sprays to natural options like citronella oil. The Environmental Protection Agency has a tool on its website to search for effective repellents that are also certified safe by the EPA.
Tofte also said that for people who have been bitten by a tick, it is important to be able to identify the species of tick. She said the main tick species of concern in Minnesota is the deer tick. Deer ticks are the only species in the state that transmits Lyme disease, and most other tick-borne illnesses also come from deer tick bites. If a person bitten by a tick can identify the species, they can make a more informed decision about whether to seek medical attention or whether to be on the lookout for the characteristic flu-like symptoms and rashes that accompany Lyme disease.
Although Minnesota has always had a few ticks, Oliver explained that there has been a large increase in populations of ticks of various species. He said in decades past, deer ticks were extremely rare in the state. Milder winters and a changing climate have contributed to the movement of tick species across the country. Oliver said that, more than any other reason, he sees the spread of tick species like the deer tick or the Lone Star tick as the result of humans altering the landscapes they live in.
As for this year, Oliver predicted it would be a good year for the tick population. He said emergences had been documented as early as February and the particularly mild winter would likely mean many ticks survived the colder months. Like Tofte, Oliver stressed the importance of preventing tick bites and seeking medical attention at the first sign of illness.
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Dr. Jon Oliver, an environmental health scientist at the University of Minnesota, and Andrea Tofte, a public health educator with Cook County Public Health and Human Services. The audio of both interviews is below.
News Source : wtip.org
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