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Christina Mickey was brushing her teeth when she noticed a small black dot under her eyelid.
Using a magnifying mirror, the Fairmont resident not only could tell that the speck under her eye was a tiny tick, but she also saw another one on her eyelid.
Retired from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, Mickey grabbed tweezers to remove both ticks. She put them in a plastic bag so she could turn them in to find out if they carried Lyme disease, which is spread by the black-legged tick, also known as the deer tick.
"One was attached and had skin in his mouth when I removed it, and the smaller one wasn't attached yet, so I felt they were fairly new bites," she said.
Within hours, Mickey went to an urgent care and was prescribed a single 200 mg dose of the antibiotic doxycycline, which, when administered soon after an incident, helps prevent Lyme and other types of tick-borne illnesses.
The next time she saw Monongalia County Health Department's Threat Preparedness program manager Jamie Moore in a park where they both walk, she handed the ticks off to him.
A little later, he walked into my office, held up the bag containing two tiny dots and told me what they were.
"How can you tell that they are ticks?" I asked.
"I put them under the microscope and that's what they are, clear as day," Moore said. "Six legs and an anal groove. Two tiny, microscopic ticks that could be bullied by poppy seeds, if that were a thing."
This story illustrates at least two things. One, even if you think you know what a tick looks like, you might not consider such a tiny dot to be a disease-carrying arachnid.
And two, Monongalia County Health Department is working to surveil the area to help keep community members safe from ticks and the diseases they may carry.
In fact, MCHD master's interns from the WVU School of Public Health, under the direction of health officer Dr. Brian Huggins, spent the summer conducting tick drags in Monongalia County parks in an effort that Dr. Huggins hopes will continue.
"We restarted tick drags with a few goals in mind," he said. "One is to look at the tick count in the area to understand what the tick density is. Two is to look for tick species, especially to see if Lone Star ticks are moving into the area."
Lone Star ticks are the infamous arachnids that, when diseased, can transfer alpha gal syndrome to their victims after latching onto them. Alpha gal is the illness that causes an allergic reaction to red meat and dairy products. However, as of now, in West Virginia, most of those ticks can be found in the southwestern part of the state.
Then, the third goal of resuming tick dragging is to try to identify environmental factors that could be impacting tick populations in the area, Dr. Huggins said.
Recent tick drags took place in four parks outside of Morgantown and four within the city limits, and each site was dragged twice.
One interesting finding was that fewer black-legged ticks than expected were found. However, Lyme disease has definitely been on the rise in West Virginia.
"It could just be the time of year," Dr. Huggins said. "That's why we need to check in the fall. It could be that they are in the larval stage and we weren't picking up as many at that stage.
Dr. Huggins hopes that between student interns and potential grants, tick dragging can be ongoing and eventually yield more information.
In the meantime, it's a good idea to take precautions to keep you, your family and your pets safe. This includes sticking to paths if you are in a wooded area, wearing socks and long pants and checking everyone for ticks upon your return.
For more tips and information, check out cdc.gov/ticks.
Email Mary Wade Burnside, public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department, at MaryWade.Burnside@wv.gov.