YORK, Pa. — There’s nothing that says “Summer is here” more than memorial weekend.
But humans are not the only ones that enjoy the weather during this time of the year.
“Most people that spend anytime in the outdoors are going to encounter ticks," said Ryan Bridge better known as "The BugMan."
The most common ticks in Pennsylvania are: The blacklegged tick and the American dog tick.
The blacklegged tick, also known as the deer tick, is the one to be wary of.
“The tick that carries Lyme disease," said John Goldman, MD, an Infectious Disease Specialist at UPMC.
Experts say the number of Lyme disease cases in the commonwealth has increased significantly in the last couple of years.
“It’s not only prevalent throughout Pennsylvania, but in fact they find Lyme disease in every county in Pennsylvania," said Goldman.
The tick surveillance and testing program in the commonwealth individually tested more than 3,000 ticks and found that 58% of those ticks were positive for Lyme disease.
“That’s more than half, and so we just want to stress the importance of being safe. We want people to have fun, but we want people to be safe," said Jamar Thrasher from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Another insect to keep in mind this summer is the mosquitoes.
“Even though we have the mosquitoes in our area, we usually only have one or two cases of west Nile each year, and so it’s clearly a concern. But it’s clearly a less common disease," said Goldman.
So what are the best precautions to take?
“Boots only, long pants only, no shorts, no flip flops, no sneakers. Things like that," said Bridge.
Experts also recommend wearing bug repellent anytime you head outside and make sure that when you come back home to check yourself for any possible ticks or bug bites.