Got Ticks? A New Site Helps You Stay Safe

Johnston residents could be facing a higher-than-normal risk of Lyme disease this summer, as the town's tick population has increased dramatically.

That's the message from Dr. Thomas Mather, director of the URI Center for Vector-Borne Disease and TickEncounter Resource Center, who reported on Friday that Johnston saw a triple-digit percentage increase in ticks found at 18 survey sites.

"We've had perfect tick weather during May and June, which means that few ticks were killed off, and that's keeping the numbers high throughout the region for now," Mather said in a statement.

The TickEncounter website, www.tickencounter.org, provides a growing catalog of TickSmart tools, including an interactive tick identification chart, shower cards for prompting daily tick checks, tick encounter risk maps, and many other TickSmart strategies for protecting yourself, your pets and your yard from ticks.