The numbers don’t lie. Ticks and the diseases that they transmit are growing at an alarming rate. Lyme disease cases have been reported in all 50 U.S. states and in many parts of Canada. Part of the problem is driven by an ecosystem out of balance and milder winters that are enabling ticks to move into new territories. Until there’s a coordinated control effort implemented at state and national levels, it’s up to individuals and their communities to pursue preventive actions. Below, Invisible International offers up five simple things you can do to protect your family and community, as well as ways to fuel prevention efforts.

• Maine: Maine saw record Lyme cases in 2019
• Massachusetts: Tick-borne diseases are skyrocketing in Eastern Massachusetts
• Michigan: Why you can expect more ticks this summer in Michigan
• Minnesota: Tick...Tick...Boom. Blacklegged ticks and the diseases they carry are on the rise in Minnesota.
• New Jersey: 2019 set to be record tick season—That has already started!
• New York: Upstate tick expert predicts huge season for ticks
• North Carolina: Watauga an 'emerging' area for Lyme disease cases
• Ohio: Ohio saw record number of Lyme disease cases reported last year
• Pennsylvania: Erie County sees record number of Lyme disease cases
• Vermont: Record tick-related hospital visits this fall
• Wisconsin: Climate Connections: More risk for Lyme and other diseases could be on the horizon in a warmer Wisconsin
• Canada: A ticking time bomb: Canada’s tick seasons are getting worse

1. Watch this online webinar on tick-bite prevention strategies

Hear about the latest research on tick control strategies and tick behavior so you can better manage risks for you and your family. Sponsored by the Entomological Society of America, this webinar features experts on entomology, tick surveillance, reducing disease burden, and two new tick-borne disease threats — the Powassan and Heartland viruses.

Tuesday, May 10, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Register here

2. Teach your kids the tick-check dance To encourage kids to do more and better tick checks, comedic songwriters “Louis and Dan and the Invisible Band” created a song-and-dance routine to help kids remember to check for creepy-crawly ticks in their favorite hiding places. Project collaborators, Invisible International and PA Lyme Resource Network, have also organized an educational campaign around the dance called the #TickCheckChallenge. (Funded by the Lovell Family Foundation.)

Learn more

3. Share LymeTV public service announcements with your radio and TV stations LymeTV has also created a series of hilarious public service announcements that you can share with your local radio and TV stations, or post to your school, church, or camp websites. The organization also features 10-minute interviews with a physician, a triathlete, and the founder of a tick repellent company, all of whom offer up advice based on their personal experiences with Lyme disease.

Watch here

4. Encourage local schools and camps to join the Tick JEDI Health Education Program LymeTV offers schools, camps, and youth organizations a free health education course on tick bite prevention. This free program features a fun, interactive, educational cartoon that teaches kids about tick avoidance, tick checks, and Lyme disease basics. (The animation’s screenwriters have written episodes for Disney Channel and Disney—ABC Television Group, ensuring an age-appropriate learning experience.) Designed for children from five to twelve years old, the program also comes with prevention posters and workbooks that engage kids with fun educational activities. At the end of the program, students will be able to identify tick habitats, explain protective clothing, practice proper daily prevention methods, & know what to do if they get bit by a tick.

Register here

5. Donate to Invisible’s education initiatives Invisible International is a nonprofit committed to alleviating the suffering caused by invisible illnesses like Lyme disease, through education, research, and community empowerment. Our organization, founded and led by clinical and scientific experts in tick-borne disease, has piloted grass-roots innovation efforts to encourage development of new prevention and awareness tools for tick-borne illness, and has launched the first online library of accredited continuing medical education (CME) courses that teach front-line clinicians about diagnosing and treating vector-borne diseases.

Donate here

Hopefully, by all working together, we’ll be able to reduce the suffering and public health burden associated with the tick-borne disease epidemic.

Tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease affect children more than any other age group, yet only about 1-in-10 check for ticks after playing outside. To encourage kids to do more and better tick checks, comedic songwriters “Louis and Dan and the Invisible Band” created a song-and-dance routine to help kids remember to check for creepy-crawly ticks in their favorite hiding places.

Project collaborators, PA Lyme Resource Network and Invisible International, have also organized an educational campaign around the dance called the #TickCheckChallenge. This project also won the 2021 LymeX Education Hackathon. In 2020, the Tick Check Challenge was developed for the Invisible International 2020 Hackathon, which was focused on creating education and awareness around tick-borne illness and funded by the Lovell Family Foundation.