Research tells us that 2017 is going to be a bad year for ticks, Lyme disease, and the Powassan virus, a deadly disease spread by the parasites. If you live in an area where these are a concern, there's one more danger you need to be aware of this summer, unfortunately—especially if you have pets or kids at home.

Beka Setzer, a mom of two young daughters from Ohio, shared some alarming photos of her daughter's run-in with "seed ticks" last summer on Facebook in an effort to warn other families. After spending just 30 minutes playing outside, her daughter Emmalee was covered in these small, hard-to-see larval ticks. Beka removed them right away, but Emmalee still became sick soon after.

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"I'm putting this out there, just a heads up for parents of kids who love to play outside," Beka wrote on Facebook. "Emmalee was playing outside yesterday rolling around on the ground while enjoying the sprinkler. After coming inside and laying down for a nap I just happened to notice tiny (and I mean tiny) little black dots all over her legs, abdomen, arms, and armpit area. Thinking they may have just been seeds I tried to wipe then scrape one off and it was a tick! She must've been playing in or near a nest of tick larvae and was covered."

Beka proceeded to remove more than 100 ticks from her daughter's body. Within 90 minutes, she detached the ticks, but that didn't prevent Emmalee from waking up the next morning with spots covering her body and a swollen and hard lymph node. This mom took her daughter to see a doctor right away, and she was prescribed aggressive antibiotics and antihistamines. "I want to make every parent aware of what these look like so you can be on the lookout," Beka wrote. "They're not as easy to see as the ticks you're likely looking for on yourself or children."

More recently, Beka shared a photo of another seed tick she found on her daughter, and placed it next to a penny to show its small size. The ticks can easily be mistaken for seeds, spots, freckles, or dirt, and they're even more difficult to spot on cats and dogs.

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While seed ticks are smaller than regular ticks, they cannot be simply wiped or flicked off the body. To properly remove the tick, it's best to use a pair of tweezers to detach both the body and head, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Place the removed tick in a container or baggie to be tested later and then disinfect the site of the bite. You can learn more about tick removal on the CDC's website.

(h/t Pop Sugar)

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Jessica Leigh Mattern
Web Editor
Jessica Leigh Mattern is a web editor and writer who covers home, holiday, DIY, crafts, travel, and more lifestyle topics. Prior to working for Country Living, she wrote for several lifestyle and women’s magazines including Woman’s Day, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook