LUCAS COUNTY (WTOL) - It's nearly June and the director of the Lucas County Health Department says lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever should be on your mind.
Since ticks are carriers of both conditions, Dr. David Grossman says protect your dogs.
"If they do bring it home, they are your pet. You can get them from that," Grossman said in a news conference Friday afternoon. He confirmed that one dog already has died in Lucas County this year due to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Campers at Maumee Bay State Park told WTOL 11 that they are staying alert this weekend since they came across many tick infested areas in the park last year. They told us three tick landed on one of their dogs. Eight to ten landed on another.
"She was crying over it," camper Chuck Poole said about his three year old pup. He said it took him up to two hours to remove all of the ticks with a pair of tweezers.
The Health Department has conducted tick surveys in parks like Oak Openings this year and other highly wooded areas. The results of those surveys were not readily available.
Grossman says ticks should not be twisted off the body or burned. He said the remover should protect his hands with a towel and pull the tick straight off the body.
Campers say they'll also be protecting themselves this weekend by wearing long sleeves.
