Watch Out For Ticks, What WeHa Residents Need To Know

Town of West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The West Hartford Bloomfield Health District will hold an informative presentation on how people can protect themselves this summer from ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Event attendees can learn how to avoid ticks, how to properly remove them and how to submit a tick for testing.

The event will be at Elmwood Community Center on Wednesday, May 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The program is free, but registration is preferred.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the population of ticks had a huge increase throughout the country this year.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, which tracks tick cases, attributes the increase to a milder winter. Warmer temperatures allow ticks to stay active year-round.

When temperatures drop below freezing, ticks burrow under leaves or snow and die.

But, a milder winter allows ticks keep from going dormant and leads to a population increase.

Once the temperature increases to about 40 degrees, ticks come out and actively seek hosts. This presents a bigger danger to people.

Lyme Disease isn't the only tick-driven illness that residents of the northeast should worry about.

The CDC says cases of babesiosis, which can cause flu-like symptoms, are on the rise in eight states, including Connecticut.

For more information, contact Viviane Rinaldi, 860-561-7901 or email viviane.rinaldi@westhartfordct.gov. Register: https://bit.ly/3MKarF8.