With Memorial Day weekend just ahead, thousands of Nebraskans will be heading out on their first camping trips of the season — and they’ll need to take precautions against ticks. Epidemiologist Patty Quinlisk says there is a wide variety of ticks in the region and they’re all potentially dangerous.
Suggestions for preventing tick bites include: avoid wooded and grassy areas, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants tucked into socks or boots, and use insect repellents that contain the chemical DEET.
Tiny ticks can transmit serious diseases to humans and the experts say it’s important that you check yourself over after being outside, especially if you’ve been in the woods. Epidemiologist Patty Quinlisk says if you find a tick, it’s best to just pull it off, rather than using folk remedies like a lit match.
Quinlisk notes ticks tend to prefer the back of the knee, armpit, scalp, groin and back of the neck. Nebraska had 124 Lyme disease cases reported last year, the bulk of them in Douglas and Lancaster counties.
