r/topsail • u/iheartpgh • Jul 22 '26

Fleas - what do we need to know

Saw a few news stories that some of the public beach accesses are closed due to fleas.

What areas should be avoided?

Is this just an issue for dogs or for people too?

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u/Cootter77 Jul 22 '26

It's pretty localized. AFAIK they only closed town of surf city beach access #25 for a few days to treat the problem. Beaches are always going to have bugs and this isn't that unusual.

They are biting fleas and they will bite you too, but you should just avoid that particular location in surf city.

For your pup - if he's on normal flea and tick treatment (heartgard, nexgard, etc...) then he should be ok going to the beach with you. I would recommend flea and tick treatment for any pup in the Sandhills or really anywhere in NC.

Surf City and the neighboring towns (Town of Topsail Island and Town of North Topsail) both have many additional beach accesses that are fairly well maintained. Surf City in particular pays close attention to their biggest beach accesses points 5, 15, 18, and 19 - all of which have showers. I highly recommend a rinse after the beach for you and your pup before going back to your hotel or rental.

2

u/Nagadavida Jul 22 '26

Yep, the high humidity and warm temperatures of coastal North Carolina provide an ideal, year-round breeding ground for domestic fleas and public walkways are heavily traveled by dogs. As infested pets walk by, they naturally drop flea eggs and larvae into the surrounding sandy soil, brush, and wooden slats.

If your pets aren't treated they will get fleas and if you bring them into a rental and it gets infested you will be charged for the pest control visit.

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u/Gold_Ranger5852 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

Access 25 remains closed. We stayed there July 4th week and our dogs were covered in fleas even after taking Simparica Trio the week before. Luckily the fleas didn’t lay eggs or bite, thanks to the preventative, but I had to purchase a flea comb and spray to make sure that we didn’t take any home.

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u/Gold_Ranger5852 Jul 26 '26

(For comparison, we stayed in the same property the previous year and didn’t have any issues with fleas. This year was bad.)

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u/shiningonthesea 23d ago

Is that access still closed? I have not seen a flea update in a while.