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All across the commonwealth residents and visitors alike are getting outside and enjoying the great weather.

Pennsylvania’s scenic hiking trails are used as recreation destinations, and its vast forests are home to a large variety of creatures — including one tiny vector for disease, the tick.

One of the most common ticks to be found in Pennsylvania is Ixodes scapularis, also known as a black-legged tick or deer tick. This tick is known for predating primarily on white-tailed deer, and is one of the more common varieties in Pennsylvania.

The most common times to be bitten by a tick, according to the Department of Environmental Protection, is spring, summer and fall. Most tick nymphs and larvae are most active in the summer months and commonly found in leaf litter.

In Pennsylvania, many residents know about Lyme Disease and what to watch out for, but there are some other pathogens found in deer ticks that aren’t as obvious.

Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and the Powassan virus have all been found in deer ticks collected in Pennsylvania.

The Express interviewed Dr. Alison Brodginski, an infectious disease specialist at Geisinger, to learn more about these lesser known tick-borne illnesses.

“In general, tick-born infections in Pennsylvania without a doubt go on the rise particularly during the summer months,” said Brodginski. “A lot of it has to do with the life cycle of the ticks as well as us being outdoors more.”

From the months of May to September, according to Brodginski, you will typically see a spike of cases of tick-borne infections.

“Something we’ve seen on the rise is anaplasmosis as well as babesiosis. From a lyme disease standpoint, it’s on the radar of a lot of individuals when they think of tick-borne infection. (These) are not mainstream terminology that the community thinks about and not even a lot of primary care doctors think about them,” said Brodginski.

One of the biggest challenges of these illnesses, according to Brodginski, is the fact it is not mandatory for them to be reported. The Department of Health requires reporting for certain infectious diseases so the department can have an understanding of what diseases are in an area and how prevalent they are.

“The Department of Health relies on voluntary reporting, but we know the prevalence is likely under-represented in Pennsylvania because it’s not mandatory,” she said.

Typically, patients will go to the hospital with symptoms thinking they might have Lyme Disease — even if they aren’t positive they had a tick latch on for long enough.

“The spectrum of symptoms varies, similar to Lyme. Some have very mild to self-limiting symptoms, others are in multi-organ failure in the intensive care unit,” she said.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms for these diseases range from flu-like symptoms — fever, headache, muscle aches, nausea and general malaise — to more serious symptoms such as respiratory distress or failure, renal failure, internal hemorrhaging or even brain inflammation.

“We see the full spectrum when patients come into the hospital. I would say the majority just don’t feel well. The good news is, because there is such a heightened awareness, our teams always call us early enough to get on it. These are treatable infections. There are some instances where an antibiotic can be beneficial for preventing an infection from forming,” she said.

Depending on the disease, the attachment duration matters greatly, as does the response time to start antibiotics to treat it.

“Interestingly enough, the same antibiotic used to treat Lyme Disease also treats anaplasmosis, but it does not cover babesiosis,” said Brodginski.

With babesiosis and Lyme disease, ticks typically have to be attached for 36 or more hours in order for an individual to become infected with the virus. Meanwhile with the Powassan Virus, the virus can be transmitted within a much shorter timeframe — anywhere between 15 minutes and 12 hours, according to some studies.

Outside of general awareness, there are many other preventative measures you can take in order to avoid contracting these diseases.

You could wear long sleeves and pants to limit the amount of bare skin available for ticks to latch onto.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) advises bug sprays that contain the active ingredient DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) to deter ticks.

“Spraying it on any exposed skin as well as your clothing helps,” said Brodginski.

It’s also important to do regular tick checks if you’re outside for any period of time — especially if you’re in an area where ticks may be. Even if you don’t spend time outdoors, your pets may bring ticks indoors to you.

“(Tick checks are) one of the greatest things you can do. Make it a part of your daily routine. Check your hairline, ankles, waistline — we know that the earlier you remove them, there is a potential to prevent any of that transmission from occurring,” said Brodginski.

“If you have concerns, if you have found an embedded tick, make sure you’re reaching out to your primary care physician for next steps,” she continued.