Be Prepared For Tick Season In The SouthCoast [VIDEO]

Many experts are declaring Lyme disease an epidemic. This is the time of year where ticks run rampant in New England and specifically, the SouthCoast.

Health officials say the growing deer population in southern New England is causing cases to increase across the area.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-bourne illness in the United States 300,000 new cases a year, about triple the rate from 20 years ago, says Paul Mead, chief of epidemiology and surveillance activity for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Lyme-disease program.

The dangerous aspect of Lyme disease is the urgency to get diagnosed. If you wait too long the results can be tragic.

When a patient is diagnosed early enough they can typically be cured of symptoms after two to four weeks of treatment with antibiotics. Up to 10% of people treated can still suffer from post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, or PTLDS, and these people can suffer from muscle pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties for months or even years afterwards.

Tick bite symptoms usually set in a few days after or sometimes even a month, they include headache, fatigue, fever and a gradually expanding circular rash that sometimes has a bull's-eye appearance.

Mass. gov has some helpful tips when it comes to keeping ticks at bay:
- Wear tick repellant
- Wear light colored clothes to spot the critters easily
- Check yourself, children and pets anytime you’ve been outdoors
- Call a doctor right away if you start to feel ill or find a rash near the bite

Be sure to keep your family protected this summer and watch out for those pesky ticks.

Additional reporting by Victoria Meneses