Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Sam Bay shares tips for tick season from the Lee County Health Dept.

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Talk Line: Sam Bay shares tips for tick season from the Lee County Health Dept. · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: All right, Sog Valley, you're back again with the Waking
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  Speaker 1: Crew here on FM ninety five to one and AM
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  Speaker 1: fourteen sixty WIXN. And it's just about nine thirty on
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  Speaker 1: your Thursday morning, and as promised, you're here for the
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  Speaker 1: finale of the Grand Slam talk Line today, our fourth conversation.
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  Speaker 1: That's right, and we're joined by our good friends from
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  Speaker 1: the Lee County Health Department. It's environmental health specialist Sam
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  Speaker 1: Bay here with some important information about tick season, something
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  Speaker 1: I'm definitely seeing with my dogs. Sam. How are you good?
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  Speaker 2: Good? How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm I'm very well. It's warming up, It's it's it's
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  Speaker 1: beautiful outside. Folks are getting out, We're going to the
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  Speaker 1: to the parks, getting out in our yards. And of
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  Speaker 1: course that's kind of you know what brings you on
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  Speaker 1: the show today because with that that beautiful warm weather
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  Speaker 1: and getting out, it's it's tick season and we need
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  Speaker 1: to be cautious and aware. Tell us about some of
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  Speaker 1: the risks that are that associated with us, right, because
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  Speaker 1: you know, some folks might be ass you know, what's
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  Speaker 1: the what's the big about a bug?
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  Speaker 2: So in Illinois we have around fifteen species of ticks,
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  Speaker 2: and a few of those you might encounter. The most
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  Speaker 2: well known that we have is the American dog tick
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  Speaker 2: and then the black legged tick that most people know
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  Speaker 2: is a deer tick. And some of these different species
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  Speaker 2: can spread diseases, and I think the one that most
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  Speaker 2: of us know about is wind disease, and this is
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  Speaker 2: usually through that deer tick. WME disease can have a
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  Speaker 2: lot of different symptoms and a lot of those are
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  Speaker 2: flu like soo, some strong fatigue, joint pain, and then
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  Speaker 2: one of the easiest things to spot is a bullseye rash.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, if you see any of these things,
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  Speaker 2: obviously call your doctor. But we're we have some things
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  Speaker 2: that we're able to give education on hopefully avoid that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, one of those things is considering what
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  Speaker 1: you're wearing outside and what you can do to protect
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  Speaker 1: yourself and what are some of the best things folks
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  Speaker 1: can do.
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  Speaker 2: Long sleeve shirts, long pants, boots, hat, those are all
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  Speaker 2: great things to wear. On top of that, all of
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  Speaker 2: those things, try to make them light in color. It
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  Speaker 2: just makes it easier to spot any ticks. And then
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  Speaker 2: also obviously wearing an insect repellent. We do recommend using
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  Speaker 2: one that contains ten to thirty percent of deep And
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  Speaker 2: then also if you're doing things like a lot of
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  Speaker 2: long hikes or camping that you're able to kind of
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  Speaker 2: prepare ahead of time, you can actually spray your gear
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  Speaker 2: and clothing with promethine, which is just an insecticide that
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  Speaker 2: helps repel both ticks and mosuitos.
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  Speaker 1: Perfect. Yeah, it's always important, you know what do they
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  Speaker 1: say an ounce of prevention is worth like a pound
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  Speaker 1: to cure. So rather than having to find yourself in
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  Speaker 1: this situation, taking these tips can really cut down on
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  Speaker 1: running into these unpleasant situations absolutely. But if somebody does
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  Speaker 1: find themselves, you know, or maybe one of their pets
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  Speaker 1: with a tick, what's the best way to go about
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  Speaker 1: removing that?
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  Speaker 2: So the first thing that we always try to tell
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  Speaker 2: people is to stay calm. It is not fun to
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  Speaker 2: have a tick on you. But the best way to
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  Speaker 2: remove it is with fine tip tweezers, and you're actually
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  Speaker 2: just gonna grab the tick as close as you can
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  Speaker 2: to your skin and pull straight up. And that's also
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  Speaker 2: with pets. Do the same. After you remove it, just
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  Speaker 2: make sure to clean the area with either soap and
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  Speaker 2: water or rubbing alcohol. We are trying to tell everyone.
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  Speaker 2: I know we all grew up with different ways to
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  Speaker 2: remove ticks. Please do not use rubbing alcohol and do
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  Speaker 2: not try to burn it all. So are not the
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  Speaker 2: ways to do it. I was just gonna say after that,
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  Speaker 2: just make sure to keep an eye out for those
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  Speaker 2: symptoms that I mentioned, and always call a doctor.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, mate, be vigilant, call a doctor right away. I
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  Speaker 1: had heard the myth of burning them off when I
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  Speaker 1: was younger, so I'm glad you kind of dispelled that
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  Speaker 1: that was one of the things we always heard growing up.
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  Speaker 1: For whatever reason. It's funny those little well, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know what you would call them, unofficial, uncertified medical tips
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  Speaker 1: that probably aren't that helpful.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, definitely grew up with the burn it off and
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  Speaker 2: I have absolutely learned that is not the way to
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  Speaker 2: do it.
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  Speaker 1: So anything else you wanted to share on this or
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  Speaker 1: is there any you know, if anybody wants more information
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  Speaker 1: on this, is there a maybe a good side or
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  Speaker 1: place to go to.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So you can obviously reach out to us at
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  Speaker 2: the Health Department. Just ask for our Environmental Health division.
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  Speaker 2: You can also get on our website and find our
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  Speaker 2: information and then you know, we can answer questions on
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  Speaker 2: take species Illnesses Prevention. You can also reach out to
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  Speaker 2: Illinois Department of Public Health. We work with them as well,
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  Speaker 2: and then we actually have tick removal kits at our
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  Speaker 2: health departments that we hand out for free. We actually
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  Speaker 2: were just handing a bunch out last night at the
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  Speaker 2: Dixon City Market. They contain tweezers, alcohol pads, and band
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  Speaker 2: aids and they're just great to keep in either a
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  Speaker 2: bag or your car. I have one in my own car.
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  Speaker 2: Just a great thing to have.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, you know, anytime I go out to the park,
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  Speaker 1: I'm usually checking my so that would be a great resource.
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  Speaker 1: Stop by there, grab one of those. Sam. I, you know,
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  Speaker 1: really appreciate all the information. It's, you know, something we
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  Speaker 1: all need to be keeping an eye an eye out for.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm glad that this was a you know, a
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  Speaker 1: good reminder and we have these these tips and things
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  Speaker 1: that we can do. So thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for having me on