deer ticks

After working in the garden or taking a walk in the woods, it’s a good common practice to check your body for ticks; but it’s not just Lyme disease you have to worry about anymore. Experts are warning that the Powassan virus, a tick-borne virus that can cause dangerous inflammation in the brain, may be transmitted even faster than Lyme. [1]
Powassan is still considered a rare disease; but a recent study of ticks in Maine, as well as a few widely-reported cases of human infection, suggest that the virus may becoming more common.

Record numbers of Americans are being affected by Lyme disease; and, thanks to climate change, that number could increase dramatically as warmer temperatures allow ticks, the carriers of Lyme, to live longer.
Immature deer ticks, or nymphs, now exist throughout large areas of North American forests, although this wasn’t always the case. During early summer, the blood-thirsty insects roam about, looking for victims to feed on.