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Could the Warm Weather Be a Sign Of A Bad Tick Season?

Posted by Jennifer Smith on 27th Feb 2017

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The recent warm weather could be a sign of a bad tick season in the spring.

The weather we’ve had these past few days was much warmer than it should be and because of that ticks could start coming out.

“We like to hike. We like to be outdoors,” Christine Walsh, Averill Park resident, said.

As people who love the outdoors, Walsh and her daughter try to get outside whenever they can.

This week, taking advantage of the warm February weather at The Crossings but whether they go out now or in the spring or summer, they won’t let some ticks get in their way.

“We just you know try to protect it as best we can. We’re not going to not be outside.”

Experts say mild weather in the winter like we’ve had this week could lead to a bad tick season in the spring. This means a prolonged season and therefore more time for ticks to be born.

“You’re not going to see a lot of Lyme disease now but because things are kind of prematurely warming up you might see it now,” Dr. Jim Saperstone, of Capital Care Pediatrics, said. “The chances are it’s still gonna be at its peak in the spring, in the summer and the fall.”

Dr. Saperstone says you can only get Lyme from a deer tick that has the disease.

“Most tick bites are not going to give you Lyme disease even if the tick has it.”

That’s because it takes about two days for the tick to actually give you the disease.

Dr. Saperstone says the disease is easy to treat.

“It’s something that I think people don’t have to be worried about.”

He recommends if you’re going to be outdoors to wear tight fitting clothes and to try to avoid going out at the end of the day.

Precautions, people like Walsh are already taking.

“We want to be outside. We want to play. We want to have a good time but be aware that ticks are there,” Walsh said.

Dr. Saperstone says symptoms of Lyme disease could be having a rash that looks like a target, headaches, being tired and aching joints.

Story originally posted on News 10, ABC

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