NEAR AMERY, Wis. -- Tick-borne diseases are on the rise in the United States, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Minnesota woman is hoping to spread awareness about ticks through her product, Tick-Er-Tape.
"A lot of people don't like handling ticks... if you have one crawling on you, what do you do with it?" asked Janis Martin.
While Martin lives in the Twin Cities metro, she and her family spend a lot of time at their cabin near Amery, Wisc. About a decade ago, Martin started carrying around tape on a stick while out in the woods. Any time she would catch a tick crawling on her, she would use the tape to catch it.
"With the tape, you can just stick it on the tick and fold it over and you got it," Martin explained.
She figured if she found it useful, other people might be interested in the idea too. Tick-Er-Tape is two feet of duct tape, wrapped around what looks like a military dog tag. It's then attached to a detachable lanyard or wrist coil.
"It breaks away. You can detach it, you can put it in your pocket, you can have it around your wrist," Martin said.
According to the CDC, illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites have tripled in the country, with more than 640,000 cases reported from 2004-2016.
"Ticks are so dangerous and my husband's had a couple diseases. Our son has had Lyme disease," she said.
Tick-Er-Tape's motto is "Be aware, be ready."
"Everybody has to watch for them... I want people to be aware," Martin said.
Tick-Er-Tape won't remove embedded ticks or prevent tick-borne diseases.
If you're interested in buying one, they're $5 each and sold on Tick-Er-Tape's website.