Four Corners Health Dept. Press Release
Did you know that Four Corners Health Department hunts for ticks in our four counties to send in for identification and disease testing? Yes, we do that! It is called “Tick Flagging”. In partnership with the state of Nebraska, staff collect ticks from May to July as part of our vector-borne surveillance program. In 2024, Four Corners flagged in Seward and Butler counties and sent in 383 ticks for identification and testing for diseases. The results from the disease testing are yet to come.
Ticks are small arachnids that feed on blood and live on vegetation in grassy and woodland places. Tick bites can lead to disease spread in people and pets. In the Midwest, the spring and summer months are when people are more likely to come in contact with ticks since they go outside more during that time, although it is still possible to see ticks on a warm winter day. Ticks wait on leaves and grass until something they can attach to called a host, brushes past. A host can be a person or an animal. Ticks grab onto the host and attach by putting their mouthparts into the skin. The longer a tick stays fixed on the body, the higher the risk of infection to the host. Ticks can stay attached for several days if not removed.
But, have no fear! We can still enjoy the outdoors! There are many things you can do to prevent tick bites! The more you do, the less likely you will have problems. If we prevent tick bites, we prevent the risk of getting sick. Not every tick will have a disease, so that’s also good news if you do get bit.
- Insecticide on clothing: 0.5% permethrin kills ticks upon touch. It’s best to put it on clothing like shoes/pants. (Must let it dry fully, but it can last for several washes.) You can also buy pre-treated clothing designed to repel insects that can last through 70+ washes.
- Effective repellents: DEET and picaridin are the only two that are useful against ticks. 30% DEET and 20% picaridin protect for 6-8 hours.
- Light-colored clothing and socks tucked into pants help make it easier to see crawling ticks on clothing.
- Tumble dry clothing on high to kill ticks in clothing. Put outdoor clothes in the dryer on high for 30 minutes to kill the ticks. Ticks will survive the wash cycle and can easily get out of the laundry hamper and seek out a host.
- Check for ticks: Ticks climb up your body, seeking a good feeding site (warm/moist/protected spots). It can take 15 minutes to hours for them to select a spot (head, groin, navel, armpits, behind ears). Check your whole body after spending time outdoors.
- Shower after being in tick habitats—within 2 hours—to help wash off crawling ticks.
- Remove ticks promptly: Most diseases can only be passed if a tick feeds for a certain amount of time. Use clean tweezers to gently grab the base of the tick near the skin and pull upward with even pressure; do not twist or jerk. After removing the tick, disinfect the bite area with rubbing alcohol. Keep the tick for identification.
- Protect your pets using a tick prevention program through your veterinarian.
You can be a part of tick surveillance too! The University of Nebraska Lincoln’s Tick Tag Go is a community-powered effort to establish baseline data on tick distributions in Nebraska. Records of ticks are needed to understand where certain species of ticks are found. This project relies on passive surveillance, meaning only collecting the ticks you come across in your daily routine and activities. Find out more at www.ticktaggo.unl.edu. Ticks can carry some serious diseases, so please do not search for ticks actively. Leave that to the health departments and the state.
Go here for more information: https://www.unmc.edu/publichealth/cscash/_documents/_resources/resources-tick-bites-flyer.pdf or https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/bite-sized-threats-of-ticks
For questions or to learn more, call Four Corners at 402-362-2621 or 877-337-3573. You can also email us at info@fourcorners.ne.gov.
Visit the Four Corners website at https://fourcorners.ne.gov. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel @fc_healthdept!
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