Tick Season in Prince George's County

Summer’s here, and the weather is ideal for spending time outdoors.  

But when you’re enjoying a beautiful day outside, it’s important to be aware that tick season has begun as well. 

Sue Smyth, the Prince George’s County program chief for communicable and vector borne disease control, says whenever you’ve spent time outside, especially in areas with heavy brush growth or tall grass, you should check yourself for ticks. 

“It could take up to 24 hours before a tick-borne disease is transferred from the tick to your body, so doing tick checks every day is important,” Smyth says.

If you know you’re going to be outdoors in wooded areas where ticks might live, Smyth recommends taking precautions like wearing long sleeves and tucking your pants into your socks in order to keep ticks from getting under your clothes.

“We’re starting to see people coming in with tick bites or who have tick on them,” Barbara Thieman, the inspection control nurse at Laurel Regional Hospital says. 

In 2011, Prince George’s County has had 69 instances of reported Lyme disease, which is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 

“If you find a tick on you, note on the calendar when you found the tick and where it was on your body,” Smyth says. 

She explained that the symptoms, which mirror virus symptoms like fatigue and headaches, may appear weeks or months after finding the tick, so noting where and when it was found can help determine if you have tick-borne disease or a regular virus. 

When removing a tick from your body, use tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible, Smyth says. It’s important to avoid squeezing, jerking or twisting the tick because doing so could result in parts of the tick being left behind in the skin.