It's almost summer time and The Washington State Department Of Health is warning of an increase in ticks.

The Health Department says there is a surge of tick population headed our way for summer of 2018.

Warmer Temperatures and more vegetation has created a breeding ground for ticks.

"Its pretty prevalent to have an increase in ticks when there's not been a strong freeze or really cold snap," says Holly Myers, environmental health director for the Yakima Health District.

Here are some good rules of thumb to follow if you think you've been bitten by ticks.

If you are concerned you've been bitten by a tick and don't know whether it has Lyme disease or not, it advised you bathe yourself within two hours of when you've been exposed. That decreases your chance of the tick actually embedding and connecting itself to you. If you are going to be outdoors, spray yourself, your kids, and your pets with tick repellent spray. Check your family, your pets, and yourself thoroughly for them, they normally appear as black dots on the skin. Sometime you may not even feel them. If you do find one attached, use tweezers to remove it. You can do so by removing as close to the affected skin as possible or as close to the tick's head, make sure to disinfect that area thoroughly after you remove it as well.

You can check out more details on the Tri-Cities tick population here

 

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