Now that the weather is warming up and we’re getting some rain in Southwest Michigan, those who are going to be outside are being reminded to protect themselves against ticks.
Berrien County Health Department environmental health supervisor Brian Murphy tells us ticks get active when it warms up to about 40 degrees, so they’re out and about right now. The health department starts tracking ticks at several key locations throughout the warm season.
“We’re gearing up to do so,” Murphy said. “We start end of April, beginning of May, we really start doing our tick drags. And we have a handful of selected areas throughout the county that MDHHS helps us select because they have an expert.”
Murphy says they primarily watch out for the black legged tick because that’s the one that spreads the most Lyme disease. And the county saw plenty of Lyme disease cases last year.
“It’s on the rise in Michigan, unfortunately. We’ve seen, I believe it was around 55 cases in Berrien in 2020. Then it went down and back up. So statewide, there has been a surge with Lyme disease. And you can really blame that on the weather fluctuations. They’re getting warmer, of course. Winter, it’s been kind of fluctuating.”
Murphy notes the Asian longhorned tick was discovered for the first time in Berrien County last year, but they’re not much of a threat to humans. He has some advice for how a person can protect themselves from ticks.
“Avoid areas with lots of ticks, those shady, moist areas. Check your skin and clothes for ticks whenever you’re out. I don’t care where it is. If it’s in a grassy area — it doesn’t have to be long, unmanicured grass. Just before you go inside your home, check your body for ticks under the arms, behind the ears, in your hair. And if you do see a tick on your clothes, remove it before you go inside because ticks normally don’t just walk through the door. They’re carried in by you.”
Murphy says you should also shower because that’ll get ticks out of your hair. Another tip is to throw your clothes in the dryer for ten minutes to kill any ticks.
The Berrien County Health Department has a wealth of tick information on its website.
