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State officials urge residents to take steps to avoid insect-borne diseases

With the arrival of warmer weather, state officials are urging residents to take measures to reduce their risk of contracting insect-borne diseases. 

April is Tick and Mosquito Awareness Month, a time when North Carolina launches its own “Fight the Bite” campaign.

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are reminding residents that tick bites can cause serious illnesses such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Ticks are usually found in wooded, grassy, and brushy areas.

"The best thing to do is to always check yourself for the presence of ticks whenever you're out in the woods," said Wes Watson, an entomologist with the North Carolina State University Extension program. "Take precautions, wear light-colored clothing, you can tuck your trousers into your socks... and also wear repellent."

Common mosquito-borne diseases in North Carolina include West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

It’s recommended that residents reduce mosquito breeding by regularly emptying standing water from areas such as flowerpots, birdbaths, and gutters.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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