Mohamed Bughrara

In New Hampshire, where people spend a lot of time outside  in the woods, fields, gardens, lawns, and areas covered in fallen leaves, ticks and tick bites are frequent from April through November.

According to the Global Lyme Alliance, a research group that educates health care professionals on Lyme disease,  the disease is now present in 50 states and more than 80 countries.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ public health division’s disease surveillance coordinator, Marco Notarangelo, explained, “Tick encounters can take place in any area where a tick might be able to survive for some time.”

According to statistics gathered since 1991 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Northeast has the country’s highest incidence of Lyme disease, which includes New Hampshire.

The region now has 103 bites per 100,000 emergency room visits, which is ten times the national average for the south central region.

Deer ticks, which transmit Lyme disease and cause a wide range of symptoms, are particularly common in New Hampshire.

To help prevent contact with your skin and transmit any disease, you should wear clothes that cover your arms and legs, and tuck your slacks into your socks. 

In addition, dress in light-colored clothing to make it easier to spot ticks on you. Keep to the center of the trail when you’re in the woods since there are fewer ticks there (ticks tend to stay in shrubs and bushes).

The sooner a tick is removed, the better. Infections, notably Lyme disease, take time to enter a person’s bloodstream. Lyme disease cannot be spread for 36 hours after a tick has been attached.

Remember to check yourself or have a family member help you check for ticks as soon as you get home. Make sure to check your skin folds and go through your hair. To ensure that any ticks on you are removed, you should also take a hot shower, wash your clothes, and make sure to get your bite treated if found.