Defend Yourself from Tick-Borne Diseases

Ticks are a huge pest, but they’re also a serious threat. Ticks are well known to spread Lyme disease, but also carry 12 other disease strains on Cape Cod. While treatable, these diseases can cause serious conditions that may even be life threatening.

Protecting yourself from this menace means understanding the danger and knowing how to face it. So let’s start with the most important question: are you at risk for Lyme, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, erichliosis, rocky mountain spotted fever or other tick borne diseases?

Risk Factors

Children, the elderly and pets, are at the greatest risk, but that doesn’t exclude healthy adults from all risk. Wooded areas with deer, fox, coyote, bird and rodent populations have more ticks. In fact, Massachusetts and Cape Cod in particular, have among the highest incidences of lyme and tick borne illnesses in the country. Living in this region mandates that you take countermeasures. It’s also important to understand that infections peak in the summer.

May/June/July/August/September/October present the greatest risk because of high outdoor activity coupled with high tick activity. But unless they are eliminated, ticks can pose a year round risk.

Taking Control

The best way to prevent tick diseases is to control the tick population. At Cape Cod Mosquito Squad, we use a two-pronged approach to keep the pests away from your home.

We begin with a barrier treatment that kills the adult pests on contact. We reinforce the mist with tick tube placements that actually arm mice, chipmunks and squirrels to serve as weapons against recovering tick populations.

The tubes are completely biodegradable and use treated cotton. When rodents use the cotton to make their nests, they expose young ticks to the treatment and eliminate them before they can mature.

We can protect your property, but we also know that you can be exposed to ticks elsewhere. If you are bitten, be sure to safely remove the tick with tweezers and seal it in an air-tight container or bag. You can send the tick to your local health agent to be tested for pathogens to make sure you aren’t at risk and to help track disease trends.

You can also take measures to prevent bites. If you plan to spend time outdoors, protect yourself with long pants and long sleeves. Insect repellents that contain our active ingredient permethrin, and some other products, can be safely applied to the clothing to increase your defense.

Lyme disease is serious business, so let us defend you. 

Call or schedule an appointment with Mosquito Squad of Cape Cod today and our experts will help you map out a complete protection plan that works for you and your family.