Acton Residents: Protect Your Family from Mosquito and Tick-Borne Diseases

Via the Acton Health Department

The Middlesex Tick Task Force invites residents to attend an important learning event - Ticks and Mosquitoes from A to Z (Anaplasmosis to Zika). Learn about these diseases and how to prevent them from impacting you and your family. The “Ticks and Mosquitoes from A to Z” presentation will be held on Thursday, May 12th, from 7-9 pm in the Multipurpose Room at the Bedford Town Hall, 10 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA. This event is free and will feature two presentations from prominent tick and mosquito experts. Dr. Catherine Brown, Massachusetts Department of Public Health State Veterinarian, will talk about known and emerging Tick and Mosquito-borne diseases impacting our area and beyond and how to prevent contracting them. Larry Dapsis, BS, is the Deer Tick Project Coordinator and Entomologist with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and he will present on the life cycle and ecology of deer ticks, disease incidence rates, and distribution of tick-borne illnesses and also discuss a database under development on infection rates of ticks.

This free event is open to the public. For more information, please contact your local Health Department at 978-929-6632.

Comprised of representatives from Acton, Bedford, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham, Wayland, Westford and Weston, the Middlesex Tick Task Force formed in 2012. The group’s goals are to increase awareness of tick-borne diseases in our towns, to educate residents about effective prevention measures, and to promote inter-town collaboration about these diseases in Middlesex County. The Task Force recognizes that tick-borne diseases are now endemic in our towns and that residents need information about effective prevention measures they can take to protect themselves, including knowing the signs and symptoms of disease, the life-cycle of the deer tick, how to do a “tick check” after being outside and to safely remove an embedded tick, and the importance of self-advocacy and early medical treatment for tick-borne diseases.