ENVIR, Lyme Disease in Forest Preserve

For humans to get Lyme Disease an infected deer tick needs to attach itself.

The only ticks I've seen around here are wood ticks which are much bigger and easy to see. I can usually feel them crawl on me before they attach.

In the last 15 years deer ticks have come to Cook County, presumably on birds and deer. (The one letter to the editor in the current Forest Park Post is a pro deer culling letter.)

Now the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease is also in some parts of Cook County. See Riverside/Brookfield Landmark (Amanda Trust, Medill News Service).

Deer ticks are small as the head of a pin. Lyme Disease shows as a bullseye pattern around the point where the tick attached. When treated rapidly it's not serious. Left untreated it can be fatal.