Tick bite prevention
From IDWiki
- Use DEET-containing topical insect repellent
- Permethrin-treated clothing, shoes, and other gear
- Routine tick checks, ensuring examination around the ears, on the scalp, inside the belly button, in the armpits, around the waist, between the legs, and on the back of the knees
- Bathing within 2 hours of coming indoors allows you to wash off ticks that haven't yet attached and also gives the opportunity for a tick check
- Put dry clothes in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill ticks (longer if clothing is damp)
- For Ixodes ticks, stay in the centre of trails, walking in the centre of the trail to avoid brushing against grass and plants
- Take extra precautions in April through June, when nymphal ticks are most active
- Maintain your yards, including regular lawnmowing and removing talls grasses and any wood, trash, leaf litter, or debris
