Hospital Visits for Tick Bites Are Up 77 Percent Since 2017 Across the United States. Here's How to Protect Yourself on Outdoor Adventures.

At home in Brooklyn, New York, my wife and I have discovered ticks on our dog, a pit-boxer mix who lacks the wherewithal to notify us of such an intruder. A few weeks ago, I found a tick—luckily, before it bit—on my arm while visiting Oakland, California. Outside editors have been coming across the disgusting creatures in northern New Mexico (South Central), northern Virginia (Northeast), and coastal Massachusetts (also Northeast).

A decade ago, my little sister contracted Lyme disease in high school, so I have always been paranoid about tick bites. And with growing tick populations, ever more tick-related diseases such as Lyme disease, and a flurry of headlines about both, I’m sure I’m not alone.

Continue reading to learn more about protecting yourself from tick bites, written by Ashwin Rodrigues.