The ticks are back — even as far north as Lapland, as the warmer weather spurs the parasites into action.
"Rare but not impossible," Turku University biodiversity expert Ilari Sääksjärvi said of regional paper Lapin Kansa's news this week that two ticks had latched on to a dog in Rovaniemi.
According to the professor, ticks awaken when the mercury hits five degrees Celsius.
The Lapland tick observations are unusual this early in the season since there are generally far fewer ticks up north than in southern parts of the country.
Last year the 'punkkilive' service, a collaboration between Turku University and pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, logged 500 tick tick sightings in Lapland, 17,000 in Northern Ostrobothnia and a total of 140,000 blood-sucking arachnids nationwide.
Over the past 10-20 years, tick populations have not only grown but also migrated hundreds of kilometers further north.
"Climate change is a factor making it easier for ticks to survive up north," Sääksjärvi told Yle.
According to the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the most common diseases spread by ticks in Finland are Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).
Finland saw a significant increase in TBE cases last year, according to the THL. The National Infectious Diseases Register recorded a total of 160 cases of TBE in 2023, or 37 more cases than in 2022.
Usually the disease presents as a two-phased illness, with symptoms including fever and headache. But the disease's second stage affects the patient's neurological system with symptoms similar to meningitis, which is an inflammation of the brain.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.