reporter: this viral facebook video shows when 4-year-old evelyn lewis suddenly lost the ability to stand. try real hard. we really started to panic when we were rushing her to the hospital. reporter: doctors quickly diagnosed her with tick paralysis. now her unsettling ordeal has become an urgent warning as experts brace for one of the worst tick seasons on record. we re seeing more than we ve ever seen before because of the mild winter we had and also because there are more hosts. there s a white-footed deer mouse that ticks really love to attach to, so more mice, more ticks. reporter: and more ticks means a potential surge in cases of lyme disease and other rare but deadly illnesses like the powassan virus. but there are ways to minimize your risk use bug repellent with at least 20% deet. make sure to spray your legs and feet. the ticks don t fly, they crawl. so you want to protect yourself from the ground up. reporter: and most importantly check yourself, chec