What's Biting You?

Summer in the Adirondacks is finally here. It’s time to enjoy all that our beautiful region has to offer, from activities at the lake, walks on one of our many local trails, to hiking our scenic mountains. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year that pests like ticks and mosquitoes are most common. Aside from being annoying, infected ticks and mosquitoes can spread diseases. Lyme disease and West Nile virus (WNV) are two of the more common tick- and mosquito-borne illnesses in our community. PREVENTION is your best defense to keep yourself and your family healthy.

Take the following steps to prevent tick and mosquito bites:

·         Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellent that contains 20-30% DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.

·         Cover your skin as much as possible. Wear enclosed shoes, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots and shirt into pants.

·         Wear light-colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily.

·         Cover baby carriers and strollers with mosquito netting when outside.

·         Treat clothing and gear (such as boots, pants, socks, and tents) with permethrin or purchase permethrin-treated clothing and gear. Mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing.

·         Take a shower as soon as you can after coming indoors to wash away unattached ticks.

·         Look for ticks on your body. Young ticks are usually the size of a poppy seed, while adult ticks are about the size of a sesame seed. Ticks often hide under the armpits, behind the knees, in the hair, at the waistline, and in the groin.

·         Put your clothes in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any remaining ticks.

Watch the video below for instructions on what to do if you find a tick. We hope that you and your family enjoy a long, beautiful, healthy, pest-free summer. (http://bit.ly/2rDoj9y)

For more information on ticks visit http://www.clintonhealth.org/ticks, and for more information on mosquitoes visit http://www.clintonhealth.org/mosquitoes. 

Community Design with Health in Mind

On Thursday May 18^th, 2017 the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities grant hosted a Complete Streets workshop, Community Design with Health in Mind, featuring Mark Fenton. Mr. Fenton is a nationally recognized public health, planning, and transportation consultant. 40 people attended with representation from many different fields including Town Supervisors and Board Members, school professionals, Town and City Planners, Engineers, Program Directors, community members and more. The day started with a keynote presentation of Mark sharing proven approaches and best practices, with a focus on Complete Streets and Safe Routes to School using local examples. Mark led the group on a walking audit around the City of Plattsburgh, stressing the importance of the 3 P’s; prosperity, people and the planet.  Mark showed the group how to identify areas for improvement in their own communities and use this knowledge to address issues and implement solutions.

Mark Fenton leading a walking audit in the City of Plattsburgh.

For more information about Creating Healthy Schools and Communities or Complete Streets visit http://www.clintonhealth.org/chsc.
For more information about Mark Fenton visit http://www.markfenton.com/.