Take Precautions to Avoid Ticks This Summer

Potentially serious diseases can be avoided if you’re careful when you spend time outdoors.

That’s the message from the Wyoming Department of Health, who says that when you spend time outdoors, take precautions to avoid being bitten by ticks.

Diseases sometimes passed on by infected ticks in Wyoming include tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Colorado tick fever. While Lyme disease is also associated with tick bites in other states, the Department says that is not a concern in Wyoming.

Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist, says that when we walk through, play or sit in brushy and grassy areas, or handle certain animals, we can be exposed to ticks, adding that spring and summer are typically the peak seasons when they see those related illnesses.

General recommendations to help avoid tick-related diseases include wearing light-colored clothing to make it easier to see ticks crawling on clothes; tucking pant legs into socks; and applying insect repellents. And when you return from potentially tick-infested areas, be sure to search yourself, children and pets for ticks and remove them if they are found.