Biosecurity

Tick season is here, and it’s time to learn how to stop the suckers

Worried about ticks? There are good reasons. Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged or deer tick, transmits Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that can affect the nervous system and joints. But there are a host of other tick-borne diseases as well, and in some cases, they can make you pretty sick.

A study released last week that looked at decades of tick research found that while there’s no silver bullet to protect against tick-borne disease, such as a vaccine, a combination of preventative measures can be quite effective. Most of these methods are fairly easy to do, yet a 2015 national survey found that slightly more than half of respondents reported doing nothing to protect themselves against tick bites.