Nate Wardle, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said we had a mild winter, and now we’ll pay the price.
“Ticks tend to be fairly hearty creatures, and if the winters are not too cold, they will survive through the winter and that leads to more ticks being around during the spring, summer and fall months,” he explained.
The coronavirus pandemic is another reason for a rise in cases of Lyme disease. People are practicing social distancing by spending more time outside in the woods, parks and forests, and they’re exposed to more infected ticks.
Wardle said several of the symptoms sound familiar.
“Most people are aware Lyme disease can start with the bull’s-eye-shaped rash, but not all people see that. They can also have fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Some of those symptoms are ones that are similar to what people are seeing with a cold or even COVID-19,” he said.
The commonwealth can’t spray for ticks, but you can put on repellent with DEET and wear light-colored clothing so you can see them if they latch on.