Warming temperatures due to climate change also help the arachnid survive.
It was a beautiful day in Chicago Monday with plenty of opportunities to get fresh air, but everyone was advised to make sure to prepare for ticks ahead of their relaxing walks.Every few weeks, the Cook County Forest Preserve District posts a reminder about ticks on social media.
This year, the minuscule arachnids may be more prevalent than ever — all across Illinois.Scientists told CBS News Chicago the relatively mild winter this year did not kill as many ticks as usual. Warming temperatures due to climate change also help the arachnid survive. Tracking just how many ticks are out there is not easy, but the public can help assess the threat with something called The Tick App.Users can report a tick sighting, and an expert from the University of Illinois can identify the tick.There is also the Ticks of Illinois Project, where users upload pictures, locations, dates, and times of tick encounters.What's all the fuss about ticks? Most people have probably heard about Lyme disease, but there are other risks besides that.'We have four vector ticks, so four ticks that can spread disease across the State of Illinois — and all four of those can carry multiple diseases, and sometimes at the same time,' said Dr. Becky Smith//University of Illinois Pathobiology Department. 'So we are really concerned about human health — because some of these, some of the viruses, we can't even treat.'One of ticks' favorite spots to hang is on deer, which are abundant in the Chicago area. But when a deer was spotted among the walkers and bicyclists in south suburban Matteson on Monday, no one seemed particularly nervous about ticks.However, most of the walkers and bicyclists in question planned to stay on the pavement, and were not planning to go off-roading in the tall grass where the ticks might be hiding.The Will County Health Department explained to CBS News Chicago how it handles ticks. Its environmental health division conducts six drags a year to collect ticks through a grant program from the Illinois Department of Public Health.Any ticks collected are sent to the state's public health department to be identified. The Will County Health Department noted that Illinois typically sees black-legged or deer ticks, lone star ticks, Gulf Coast ticks, and American dog ticks.Once identified, the ticks are tested for any pathogens.The Will County Health Department said in 2024, its Environmental Health Division conducted six tick drags and collected 47 ticks for testing.The Illinois Department of Public Health also has a surveillance map that tracks the type of ticks found in the state and any pathogens associated with them.
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