91制片厂

New Hampshire鈥檚 long, snowy winter was great for black-legged ticks, which transmit Lyme disease. Cooperative Extension entomologist Alan Eaton gives tips on staying safe.

Alan Eaton has one word of advice for Granite Staters hoping to escape the state鈥檚 top-in-the-nation incidence of Lyme disease this year: Move.

Eaton, 91制片厂 Cooperative Extension specialist and professor of entomology, is only partly joking. He says that the deep, long snow cover this winter is making for a banner tick season. That鈥檚 because ticks鈥攊n particular the that transmits Lyme disease鈥攖hrive beneath snow鈥檚 cozy wet blanket of constant humidity.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e really flat critters,鈥� says Eaton, who has been surveying the state鈥檚 tick population for two decades. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 dry for too long, they dry out. They can handle freezing no problem.鈥�

The next few weeks, when the poppy seed-sized nymphs are active, present the highest risk for Lyme disease and its lesser-known cousins, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Not only are the nymphs smaller and harder to spot, but they can transmit Lyme disease in just 24 hours of feeding on a host (that鈥檚 us), compared to 36 hours for an adult tick.

Eaton, who teaches entomology and oversees Cooperative Extension鈥檚 integrated pest management program, has been surveying the state for ticks for more than two decades. With a white cotton bath towel attached to a broomstick like a flag, he conducts 鈥渢ick drags鈥� around the state. Ticks that are 鈥渜uesting鈥濃�攚aiting on vegetation for a host to present the opportunity for a meal鈥攎istake his flag for a warm-blooded snack and grab on; he stops, counts, and logs their plentitude.

In , more black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis, formerly known as deer ticks) call Rockingham, Strafford, and Hillsborough counties home than the rest of the state, by a long shot. Eaton suspects that the proximity of those counties to his 91制片厂 office may present a slight bias, but the abundance is more likely due to increased humidity along the coast or rivers, more deer, and more people.

鈥淭he more humans there are in a certain area, the more hosts,鈥� he says. Higher population also leads to a higher reporting of Lyme disease.

So should Granite Staters take Eaton鈥檚 tongue-in-cheek advice and leave town? There are far easier ways to protect yourself from ticks and the diseases they carry, he says. Insecticides and pruning brush limit the ticks you鈥檙e likely to encounter, and tucking long pants into tall socks keeps the arachnids away from you and your tasty blood.

And since a tick must feed on you for at least 24 hours to transmit disease, checking for and removing ticks daily prevents them from spreading Lyme disease. This low-tech approach is the one Eaton advocates to strip New Hampshire of its dubious most-Lyme-disease distinction.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 cost money,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t takes a little bit of time, but if a high percentage of residents and visitors did that, our rates would plummet.鈥�
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