MARSHALL — With the soil temperature warming up, local experts say it’s time to think about ticks.

“We always say it’s hard to predict the tick season,” said Elizabeth Schiffman, epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health. “There is always a risk of black-legged or deer ticks spreading Lyme disease, but it’s not consistent across Minnesota. There aren’t as many deer ticks in southwest Minnesota as in other parts of the state.”

The late spring delayed the tick season, Schiffman said. She also said a dry spring also may slow down the ticks.

“They won’t go out as they are afraid of drying up,” she said. “If it’s a dry spring, it could be a short tick season.”

Schiffman said Lyme disease is still concern in Minnesota.

In the past three years or so, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reports an average of 1,200 to 1,400 cases of confirmed Lyme disease to the disease control authority, said Schiffman.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded Minnesota with 26,886 confirmed cases of tick-borne infections between 2004 and 2016, the seventh-highest tally in the country.

While the MDH is still crunching numbers for 2017, Schiffman said that with the milder winter weather, the heavier the tick season will be.

“The good news is,” said Doug Schultz, also with the MDH, “is that you are not in what we call ‘hot spots.'”

Hot spots are wooded areas with lots of brush, which one could encounter at state parks or rural homes with dense groves.

Both Schiffman and Schultz said that ticks are predominantly found in brushy areas. They stick close to the ground because they do not climb trees, do not fly and do not jump, Schiffman said.

“They just crawl to the tops of vegetation on nice days with no wind,” Schiffman said.

When hiking in parks, Schultz recommends wearing preventive clothing and tick repellent. Target areas from the knees down with repellent because ticks seldom get above a foot off the ground.

“Put on long pants and pull your socks up over the pants,” Schiffman said. “That will help keep the ticks from attaching to your skin.”

She recommended tick repellent that was up to 30 percent DEET which prevents ticks from biting. There is no proof that anything with a higher concentration of DEET is any more effective, she said.

“If you use a lower amount, such as 10 percent DEET, reapply it more often,” Schiffman said.

Another tick repellent is permephrine, she said, that is to be applied to clothing and gear, not directly on the skin.

“Sporting goods stores often carry clothing already pretreated with permephrine,” she said. “It lasts through several washings/wearings. It’s good for people who work outside and do not have time to keep reapplying repellent.”

Local veterinarians recommend three popular ways to protect pets: the traditional collars and also topical treatments and/or pills that can be given orally. They last from one to three months and help protect you as well as your pet.

“The number one reason to use a tick prevention method is to prevent Lyme disease,” Marshall veterinarian Scott Kuecker said. “At least 12 to 15 dogs test for Lyme disease every year and the numbers have increased over the past five years.”

Lyme disease is named after a town in Connecticut where it was first discovered, Kuecker said. He said the berrelia burgdorferi is a special little bacterium that hides in the joints of animals and humans and can often be confused with lupus because they share this trait and many of the same symptoms.

Only doctor-ordered blood tests can help differentiate between the two.

“If there is the bulls-eye rash and the signs are very clear, the test is usually not needed,” said Avera Marshall’s Laura Dorman, PA-C in family medicine. “If the signs are clear we treat it right away to avoid the late signs of neurological complication.”

Severe symptoms of lyme disease include: fevers, headaches and dizziness, sensitivity to light, degeneration in cognition, severe chronic fatigue, joint aches, rashes, facial palsy, heart palpitations, inflammation of brain and spinal cord, short-term memory problems, numbness or tingling, night sweats and for children: regression to the point of not being able to identify where it hurts.

“These are the late signs of Lyme disease. The early sign is the rash. Unfortunately not everyone gets a rash from being bit by a deer tick,” Dorman said. “It is quite common to have just some of the symptoms or mild symptoms.”

If someone gets bit by a tick, and the tick is on for at least 24 hours they should come in to be evaluated, she said.

Health care providers usually recommend using a tweezers and grabbing as close to the skin as possible, not squeezing the tick any more than you have to, Dorman said. Then disinfect the area.

Prevention is the key, she said. After being outside do a thorough check of your body, including in the hair to get them off as soon as possible.

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Dorman said. “If anyone thinks they’ve been bit by a tick, they should come in right away,”