Healthy Fall

With the leaves turning, it’s time to visit a state park or conservation area, hike a new trail, or chill out in your favorite spot on the lake or river. Share in the fall harvest at a local farmer’s market or orchard. Try a different root vegetable or prepare an old family recipe. Explore these tips and resources to stay healthy and safe this fall season.

Outdoor Recreation and Safety

As Missouri’s weather cools down, we are drawn outdoors to explore nature, play sports or attend fall harvest events. But be aware, even in fall, ticks and mosquitoes can thrive, especially in the natural areas where we like to spend our time.

Ticks and mosquitoes are very common in Missouri and can spread disease through their bites. Learn more about how to avoid ticks and mosquitoes this fall by visiting our interactive story maps below:

Tickborne Disease – view interactive maps of tickborne diseases in Missouri, learn about common ticks that spread them, and get tips for preventing tick bites in the first place.

Mosquito-borne Disease – view interactive maps of mosquito-borne diseases in Missouri, learn about mosquitoes that spread them, and get tips for preventing mosquito bites in the first place.

2 Minute Drills – whether you are on the trail, mowing your grass, or happen to find yourself in woody or brushy areas, take a few minutes to help protect yourself from ticks and mosquitoes.

• Missouri State Parks – plan your visit to a state park
• Listen to Nature – take a deep breath and soak up the serenity of the season
• Fish Advisory – catch, prepare, and eat healthy fish
• Follow Fall Color – track fall color with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s weekly updates on fall foliage
• Meet Outdoor Mo – get out and explore with the Missouri Division of Tourism

Fall Back Safety Tips

For more information on where to install and how often to check your alarms, visit the Office of the State Fire Marshall at Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms. Roughly, 40-70 lives in Missouri could be saved every year by having a working carbon monoxide alarm.

Health and Wellness

Respiratory Illness - learn more about the levels of COVID-19, influenza (flu), and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in your community from wastewater surveillance – a new way of following disease trends in communities. To stay healthy and help fight the spread of COVID-19,  flu and RSV this fall:

• wash your hands well and often
• cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your elbow when you cough or sneeze
• avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• avoid close contact with people who are sick
• if you are sick, limit contact with others as much as possible
• talk with your healthcare provider about vaccinations

Harvest is in Reach - an exploration of Missouri's food access landscape. In this mapping project, we look at the geographic distribution of food access, highlighting resources, programs, and other ways to explore the food landscape of the communities in which you live, work and play.

• Ragweed Season - learn more about pollen and mold levels in Missouri.
• Cancer Screening - schedule cancer screenings with your healthcare provider. Screenings can find cancers early. Find additional information and resources on cancer prevention, awareness, screening and survivorship here.
• Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention - Lead Poisoning Prevention Week happens every year in October. Learn about lead exposure risks and lead safety tips to protect your child’s health and development.

Additional Resources

• Child and Adult Care Food Program
• Nutrition for Wellness and Prevention
• Farm to Early Care and Education
• A Guide to Missouri’s Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms
• CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking - Cancer
• CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking – Childhood Lead Poisoning
• Drought
• Missouri Storm Aware

Missouri Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) is a program within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. EPHT is part of a network of people and information systems which delivers a core set of health, exposure, and hazards data, information summaries and tools to enable analysis, visualization and reporting of insights drawn from data. Those insights are intended to help data drive actions and improve community health.