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Date: 6/21/2023
WARE — On June 27, Public Health Nurse Kirsten Krieger of Quabbin Health District will have a Ticks and Mosquitos Presentation at the Young Men’s Library Association on 37 Main St. at 3 p.m. The key topics include the types of ticks such as the dog tick, the lone star tick, the deer tick or black-legged tick and which one can spread which illnesses. Also on the agenda will be a discussion of what illnesses can come from mosquitos, what kind of treatments are available and how to protect yourself.
“Since the tick population seems to be exploding, it’s great to get the word for prevention out there,” Krieger said. “The health of the members of the community is the top priority. If we can keep them from getting as many bites and as many of these illnesses as possible, we can keep them healthier.”
Krieger will also discuss what type of tick-borne illnesses are out there, the symptoms of each one, what people can do to lower their chance of getting a bite and a bacterial illness from ticks and how to remove a tick. She will have a Bite Lab, an interactive display from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, to show during the presentation that is great for children and adults to learn more about mosquitos and ticks.
The Quabbin Health District covers Ware, Belchertown and Pelham.
As the public health nurse for the three towns, one of the things Krieger is responsible for is being part of the Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiological Network (MAVEN) helping the Department of Public Health with infectious disease surveillance within the communities.
She told Reminder Publishing that Massachusetts, especially in the New England area is one of the higher involved areas in the country as far as ticks and mosquitos. Krieger is seeing more cases of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis which are associated with ticks.
“There has been an increase and a consistent amount of tick-borne and potential mosquito-borne illness in Ware,” Krieger stated. “I explained to the Young Men’s Library that I have a presentation and what it will involve. Because the Young Men’s Library is the public library for the town, I wanted a location where we could hopefully capture a variety of members in the community.”
After the presentation, Krieger will post some Powerpoint slides on the Quabbin Health District website at www.quabbinhealthdistrict.com so those who cannot attend can take a look at the information.
Library Director Heidi Reed spoke on the presentation, stating, “I know in my own life that ticks are an increasing problem in our area, and that ticks and mosquitoes can spread disease. I feel that this presentation is important for sharing information that will benefit the public, and the library benefits if we bring in people who might not otherwise be library users, so that they can learn about what we offer while they are here.”
Krieger would love to see more people aware of what type of tick and mosquito safety prevention options are, a decrease in the number of infections in general.
“I’d like for people to not be afraid of the outdoors, but just know what options are out there for being safe and avoiding ticks and mosquito bites, as well as avoiding any complications from tick and mosquito-borne illnesses so that they can enjoy being in the outdoor space,” Krieger said.