It is That Time of Year Again!

 

Checking for ticks

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Tickborne diseases are on the rise, particularly in the spring, summer and early fall when ticks are most active, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means if you are outdoors, you need to take precautions for yourself, your family and your pets before, during and after your visit.

Steps to protect against ticks. Follow these whether you work outside, enjoy your yard or spend time on a national forest or grassland. You should:

• Avoid areas with high grass and leaf litter and walk in the center of trails when hiking.

• Use repellent that contains 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin for protection that lasts several hours.

• Use products that contain permethrin to treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents or look for clothing pre-treated with permethrin.

• Treat dogs for ticks. Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and to some tickborne diseases. They may also bring ticks into your home. Tick collars, sprays, shampoos, or monthly “top spot” medications help protect against ticks.

• Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors to wash off and more easily find crawling ticks before they bite you.

• Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon returning from tick-infested areas. Parents should help children check thoroughly for ticks. Remove any ticks right away.

• Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed.

It’s a good idea to take preventive measures against ticks year-round. However, be extra vigilant in warmer months (April-September) when ticks are most active.

Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks

• Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter

• Walk in the center of trails

Repel Ticks on Skin and Clothing

• Use repellent that contains 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin for protection that lasts several hours.

• Always follow product instructions. Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding hands, eyes, and mouth.

• Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin. It remains protective through several washings. Pre-treated clothing is available and may be protective longer.

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an online tool to help you select the repellent that is best for you and your family.

 Find and Remove Ticks from Your Body

• Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (preferably within 2 hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks that are crawling on you.

• Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon return from tick-infested areas. Parents should check their children for ticks under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.

• Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and day packs.

• Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors.

• If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed.

• If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks effectively. If the clothes cannot be washed in hot water, tumble dry on low heat for 90 minutes or high heat for 60 minutes. The clothes should be warm and completely dry.

This information is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Get more information from CDC about ticks on pets and in your yard as well as other need-to-know safety tips.

Remember: You are responsible for your own safety and for the safety of those around you.

Ticks and Lyme Disease

For many people, finding a tick latched onto their leg is enough to put a damper on a trip to the woods. It's like finding a mouse in the cupboard or a roach in your bed sheets and leaves you feeling unaccountably paranoid. With recent publicity given to the threat of Lyme disease, people's fears have intensified, and some are actually afraid to visit the forest.

Tick Demographics

Weather conditions seem to have the greatest effect on the density of ticks. After a mild winter tick populations are especially high. Ticks are worse in early spring when adults who have over-wintered start moving around looking for a host to feed on. Eggs from the previous year begin to hatch as well.

Ticks are not particularly choosy about their hosts. Any warm-blooded host will do. They climb up in brush and wait for a host to happen by. They attach themselves to the host and suck the host's blood, feeding only until they're full (6-13 days), then drop off and lay eggs. Incredibly, some ticks can survive up to two years between feedings.

A female tick lays from 4,000-6,000 eggs. After the eggs hatch, the tiny larvae or seed ticks, find hosts and feed just as the adults do. The larvae of some types of ticks are almost invisible to the human eye but literally hundreds can feed on one person resulting in painful itching and in some people, an allergic reaction. In most species, the larvae feed only on small mammals and are not a problem for humans.

There are over 300 species of ticks. Different species carry different diseases. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease are two of the better known diseases spread by ticks. Some diseases, such as Lyme Disease may affect pets and livestock as well as people.

Avoiding Ticks

Ticks are going to congregate where they have a high chance of finding a host or where they hatched out as larvae. Any high traffic area should be avoided, including cow paths in pastures and deer paths in the woods. Also avoid tall grass and thick brush. If your pets roam into areas where they are likely to pick up ticks, routinely check them and use baths, dips, and flea and tick collars to reduce the chances of your pets bringing ticks into your home and yard.

Several commercial insect repellants work quite well. Ensure the repellant has the ingredient DEET or PERMETHRIN which is most effective on ticks. In areas of high tick infestation, you'll need to apply it every 2-3 hours. Another proven method of repelling ticks is to sprinkle sulphur on your socks, boots, and pant legs.

Tying or taping your pant legs tight around your ankles so the ticks can't crawl up inside your pants and tucking in your shirt is also recommended. It won't cut down on the number of ticks you might get, but it will make them easier to spot and remove. Another suggestion is to wear light colored clothing which make the ticks easier to spot. Be sure and wash all clothing promptly to kill any ticks that might remain.

Visitors to recreation areas are also encouraged to stay on trails where the chance of picking up ticks is much less.

Diseases carried by Ticks

Once embedded, the recommended method of removing the tick is to pull it straight out with tweezers. Grasp the tick close to its head with tweezers and pull firmly. Apply antiseptic to the bite. Removing a tick within 36 hours of when it becomes embedded will lessen the chance of disease transmission.

You may wish to keep the tick for a few weeks in a vial labeled with the date and location of the bite. If medical attention is later sought, the type of tick has some bearing on the type of disease it might be carrying. For instance, it is the deer tick, much smaller than other common ticks, which is usually associated with Lyme disease. Deer ticks are mahogany brown, oval shaped, and appear to have two separate plates on their backs. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is carried by the Lone Star tick which is a round dark brown tick with a distinctive white mark on its back.

According to some researchers, "Lyme hysteria is vastly a bigger problem than Lyme disease". This may be true, but we recommend people be aware of the disease's symptoms. Two other diseases, ehrlichiosis and babesiosis have also been diagnosed which have symptoms very similar to Lyme Disease and are easily treated. If the bite looks suspicious, you should see your local physician.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease include:

• a red or pink rash, or a bump near the area bitten which expands in size and may become as large as 10-15 inches in diameter.
• fever, chills, headache, and fatigue
• enlarged lymph nodes
• stiff joints - particularly the knees

If these symptoms are present, a physician should be consulted immediately. Lyme disease can be confirmed by a blood test and progression of the disease can be prevented by proper treatment.