Ticks Are Bringing A Disease that May Prove Worse than Lyme This Year
I'm personally predicting an early tick season this year.
In fact, one could argue that ticks 2023 has already started. Back in that warm stretch we had in January, I was pulling ticks off my dog. It was a crazy sight to behold, but there we were. Now that things are melting, and besides one cold snap last month, we've had a pretty mild winter. Despite all the snow, the ground barely froze.
As I look around my yard right now, which is getting more bare every passing day, I've wondered how long it'll be before I start pulling ticks off my furry boy. And not only does it seems like the number of ticks grows every year, now we have a tick-borne disease that seems poised to make Lyme Disease look like a holiday, according to WGME... It's called Babesiosis.
What is babesiosis?
It's a tick-borne disease that causes fever and chills, and major drowsiness... at the very least. The Center for Disease Control says it cause all kinds of secondary problems that sound pretty scary, up to and including death. Now, most people won't even know they have it, and it just goes away. Some folks aren't as lucky.
The only way to avoid the disease is to use basic tick prevention, as they are the culprit to begin with. Be mindful of where you're walking, wear clothing that covers the skin, and do constant tick checks. This can also affect your pets as well, so it's not just a concern for you. As usual, deer ticks are the worst offenders.
Every year, it seems to become harder and harder to spend time outdoors. When I was a kid, we used to live in the tall grass and the woods and never even talked about ticks. But this is the world we live in now. But, we just wanted to give you the heads up to know what to be thinking about this year as we slowly get back outdoors.