Mild winter means more blood-sucking mosquitoes, ticks

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Public health officials say the mild weather Indiana residents enjoyed last winter is coming back to bite them by spurring an increase in tick and mosquito populations in parts of the state.

The Vanderburgh County Health Department says the southwestern Indiana county is seeing more ticks and mosquitoes this spring than in past years.

Keith Goy is a vector control supervisor with department. He says the region doesn't often see ticks living through the winter.

Goy tells The Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/2rDzSRe ) the best way to remove ticks is to grasp the front tip of the pest with tweezes and pull it straight out. The blood-sucking pests can spread Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other diseases.

The primary disease of concern that mosquitoes spread is West Nile virus.

___

Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com