SHHD monitoring ticks, mosquitoes

The district health department for Adams, Clay, Nuckolls and Webster counties is notifying residents to protect themselves from mosquito and tick bites.

South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) executive director Michele Bever reported an abundance of West Nile positive mosquitoes in Adams County, which means West Nile season is not yet over in south central Nebraska. Bever said 14 collections of mosquitoes from four different sites around Adams County tested positive for West Nile virus. The collections of mosquitoes were trapped on Aug. 28.

West Nile Virus is spread through the bite of an infected mosquito and anyone can get infected with the virus. Symptoms of West Nile illness are usually mild, including fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, and sometimes swollen lymph glands or a skin rash. However, symptoms may be more severe, require hospitalization, cause permanent neurological damage, and may result in death.

To date in 2024, a total of 38 cases of West Nile infection have been identified in Nebraskans through clinical positive results. Twenty-two of these cases were neuroinvasive, meaning the West Nile virus infected the brain or central nervous system of the affected individual, and 19 cases required hospitalization.

Exposure to tick bites is also a concern because of the serious illnesses they can carry. Bever said SHDHD’s tick trapping in Liberty Cove and Roseland Lake this year resulted in mostly American dog ticks (Dermacentor species), which can transmit tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma species) have also been collected in the South Heartland District. Lone Star ticks can transmit ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Heartland virus, Bourbon virus and Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI).

Bever emphasized South Heartland residents have been affected by illnesses carried by ticks and mosquitoes. “In the last decade, we’ve had residents diagnosed with West Nile illness, Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsiosis) and Lyme disease,” she said. “It’s so important to make sure you and your loved ones are protected from exposure to these disease carriers.”

The health department recommends to ‘Fight the Bite’ and reduce your risk of getting mosquito and tick bites by using an effective repellent and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, especially when you are outdoors in tick habitats or between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

For preventing exposure to ticks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also encourages treating clothing and gear with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remains protective through several washings. Alternatively, you can buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear.

Mosquito and tick trapping and testing, called vector surveillance, is an annual activity for Nebraska health departments. Working with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS), SHDHD traps mosquitoes every other week, beginning in late May and typically ending in late September or early October. In South Heartland, ticks are collected in early summer from two sites designated by NDHHS. The trapping activity helps the health department and NDHHS know which types of ticks and mosquitoes are found in the health district and across Nebraska (and, therefore, what diseases residents might be exposed to), and whether the distribution of these disease-carriers is changing over time.