Entomologist Voldemārs Spuņģis said that ticks have survived the winter well: "Now in the warm days they have become very active. They have not eaten for half a year and are hungry."
Ticks are most often found in sunny forest sides and by bushes. They are mostly residing on blades of grass about 10 to 15 centimeters above the ground.
The Latvian state is either fully or partially sponsoring tick-borne encephalitis vaccines for children.
However as ticks are also carriers of the Lyme disease, for which no vaccine exists, experts are warning even those vaccinated to be careful.
"It's advisable to wear bright clothes, ideally of a slippery material, so that the ticks would have a harder time of snapping to and staying [on the clothes]," said Antra Bormane, epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
