Is climate change bringing more disease-carrying bugs to the PNW?

We've got about a month and a half of summer left, so still plenty of time to get outdoors and enjoy the warm weather.

Pack the bug spray, though. They're plentiful — and plenty hungry.

Some are carrying some nasty bugs of their own, including bugs that are rare in the Pacific Northwest.

"With climate change, we are expecting to see both mosquitoes and ticks, and it will impact their distribution," said Liz Dykstra, a public health entomologist with the Washington State Department of Health's Zoonotic Disease Program.

"We could see tick distribution expand in some areas," she said. "So, that is something that monitoring and ongoing surveillance is important to help track."

Washingtonians are likely seeing fewer ticks right now — tick season is in the spring and early summer — but the state is still keeping its eye on several cases of tick-borne illness.