The Board of Health would like to remind residents to take steps to keep yourself and your family safe from ticks and tickborne diseases this summer. The following are personal protection tips for ticks:

• Routinely conduct full body checks for yourself and your children. Be sure to check behind ears, along your hairline, between your toes, behind your knees, along with your armpits.
• If you find a tick attached to your skin, don't panic. Use a pair of fine point tweezers to grip the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out with steady pressure.
• When going outside to an area that will likely have ticks
• Stick to main pathways and the center of trails when hiking.
• Wear a light-colored, long-sleeved shirt with long pants and tuck your pants into your socks. This may be difficult to do when the weather is hot, but it will help keep ticks away from your skin and make it easier to spot a tick on your clothing.
• Use bug repellents. Repellents that contain DEET can be used on your exposed skin. Permethrin is a product that can be used on your clothes. Always follow the product instructions and use repellents with no more than 30-35% DEET on adults and 10-15% DEET on children. Never use insect repellents on infants.

More information can be found at the Board of Health’s website here.