05/25/2026
🦟 As Ohioans head outdoors this Memorial Day weekend, a Lancaster mom is sharing her family's firsthand experience with Lyme disease as a warning to others, and the numbers behind her story are genuinely alarming.
Eight-year-old Avery Wilson tested positive for Lyme disease last year after a family mushroom-hunting trip, spending weeks exhausted, dizzy, and barely able to stand.
Even after completing two weeks of antibiotics, the normally bubbly little girl spent weeks recovering on the couch. Her mother Audrey wants other parents to know that Lyme disease can strike even from a short outing in the woods, and that early diagnosis is critical to recovery.
The timing could not be more urgent. Ohio Lyme disease cases have exploded from just 40 reported cases in 2010 to more than 2,800 in 2025, a nearly sevenfold increase in the last five years alone. A new Ohio State University study found that nearly 47% of blacklegged ticks collected in Ohio now carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, meaning almost one in every two ticks poses a potential infection risk. 🔬🦠
Emergency room visits for tick bites across the Midwest are already at their highest levels since 2017, and experts warn this season will be especially severe after a short, mild winter. 🩺
To protect yourself, wear long pants tucked into socks, use EPA-registered repellents, stay on the center of trails, and do a full body check on yourself, your children, and your pets after any time outdoors. Ticks active in Ohio remain a threat through September. 🐾
