From WXOW
June 11, 2018
La Crosse County, WI (WXOW) –
They are an unfortunate part of summer – crawling, biting, flying, irritating hordes – and because of weather patterns, we may be seeing more of them.
“Winter kind of lasted until the middle of April for much of Wisconsin,” Gundersen Infection Preventionist Megan Meller said. “That’s a perfect condition for some of these insects like ticks and mosquitoes.”
The CDC says illnesses from ticks, mosquitoes and fleas have tripled since 2004, with tick-borne illnesses accounting for 60 percent of all those cases. Wisconsin and Minnesota are in the top 20 percent of reported cases.
“There’s other types of Lyme disease that are out there,” Meller said. “So it’s really best that we just be prepared for that.”
It takes more than 24 hours for a tick to transmit disease. Thorough body checks after a day in the woods or tall grass is key to prevention.