With freezing temperatures and frigid wind chills, thinking about ticks, tick-borne disease or even prevention isn’t something on most people’s minds. For me, it is all I ever think about because of all the information and horror stories that I am exposed to, it is not something that I can just shut off. I am constantly talking to people and thinking of ways to convince them to stay alert, to have a plan in place because these cold temps won’t last and warmer days will be upon us and before you know it, as everything around us thaws out, ticks will become active once again.

In the cold dead frigid winter, we still need to remain vigilant about protecting ourselves against ticks. Bringing in firewood, as it thaws inside the house, frozen ticks warm up and in their hungry state, becoming active, seeking their blood meal. Winter is the worst time for this to happen because we become slack with our prevention and tick checks and the more layers we put on, the less apt we are to feel or even see a tick. Without seeing the tick, or the classic bullseye (which less than 50 percent of all positive Lyme disease case report), any aches, pains and onset of fevers are explained away as a cold or flu. Many times that’s all it really is but for those who have been infected with a tick-borne disease, the reality of getting your diagnosis delayed is a strong one.

So what kind of plan do we need for the dead of winter? Well, how about still spraying our clothing with Permethrin (or buying Permethrin-infused clothing) and wearing it when you are chopping wood or working outside or even walking in the woods. Putting a layer of repellent on your skin is helpful too — again if you are spending time outdoors. With the temps so cold, you’re probably pretty safe outside but its what’s happening inside that we need to be concerned with. Where do you stack your wood inside? What are you cleaning your counters and floors with? The same precautions that you would take in the summer apply to winter indoors as well. If a tick were to make its way into your home, thaw out and become active, what have you done to lower the risk of exposure for you, your family and your pets? Our prevention tab on our website (www.mldse.org) has lots of useful tips and tricks that are good for year-round protection.

We always say “Prevention is Key to Staying Tick-Free” and “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.” Have a plan and execute it. It takes seconds to protect you and your loved ones from a misunderstood, financially draining, chronically debilitating, life altering disease.

I have mine – what’s yours?

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup, active in Maine’s Lyme legislation and the co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org