By Staff
The odds are you won't contract Lyme Disease this summer. Since symptoms are often not detected at the time of the bite of an infected tick, precautions are warranted before spending time outdoors.
If you do find a tick attached to your body, use a fine-pointed tweezers to grasp the tick close to the skin. Pull gently until the tick releases. You don't want to crush or kill the tick while it is still attached to your skin.
Clean the area with antiseptic.
A bulls-eye rash symptom only appears in about 68 percent of the cases, according to the Michigan Lyme Disease Association. Other symptoms include those similar to the flu: fever, muscle aches, joint pain, headaches, fatigue and weakness. These may not appear until weeks after the tick bite.
If untreated, Lyme Disease can lead to severe heart, neurological, eye or joint problems.
For more information visit: www.mlda.org.