Uptick in ticks: Pesky parasites are out in force in Nebraska this year

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Ticks. They’re small, silent and potentially dangerous.

And in places like tallgrass, wooded trails and even your backyard, ticks are showing up early and in greater numbers this season.

“If you walk your dogs out at Pioneers Park, you need to be so careful,” Andrea Norris said on TikTok. “I’ve already wiped three ticks off of him.”

Health officials said tick activity is up across Nebraska.

Experts said the mild winter and warm spring could be fueling the spread.

“The weather warms up, and then the humidity levels increase; that brings the ticks out, and that’s the kind of conditions they really like to begin their activities for the season,” said Jeff Hamik, an epidemiologist at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. David Quimby with CHI Health urges people to be on alert for ticks, which can carry Lyme disease or other illnesses.

“Ticks are well known, best, for Lyme disease for certain ticks,” he said. “But there’s other things you can get from infected ticks as well, like Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tuberculosis, tularemia — the list is very, very long.”

Quimby said the best way to prevent a disease is to “avoid being bitten in the first place.”

Quimby said you should be doing tick checks if you venture into heavily wooded areas.

“That means if you’re going to known tick-infested areas, you have on appropriate clothing,” he said.

Then you should do a tick check.

Norris said she’s already started to do nightly checks for ticks, whether she’s walking her dog or not.

“I feel like I have to check myself, too.” she said. “I never had a problem like that walking my dog there, but now he’s getting a full inspection when we get home.”