As effective as tick repellents and wearing long sleeves may be, there’s no substitute for doing a thorough check. P.J. Liesch directs the Insect Diagnostic Lab at UW Madison. He says that can prevent Lyme Disease
“The tick just doesn’t hop on you and bite and give you a disease,” Liesch explained. “It actually takes quite a long time.”
Disease can take up to 48 hours, in fact. It should be noted that Lyme Disease doesn’t just put people at risk.
Make sure your pet is still getting preventative flea and tick treatment,” Liesch said. “You still will want to do tick checks on animals though if they’ve spent time outdoors.”
Another concern is Powassan Virus, which can be fatal, although there have been only a handful of cases reported in Wisconsin.