How Can I Prevent Bites From Ticks And Lyme Disease
You can keep yourself, your loved ones, and your pets from encountering Lyme ticks with a few easy, Be Tick AWARE prevention steps:
- Avoid high-traffic areas known to host ticks that carry Lyme disease like tall grasses and leaf piles
- Wear clothing to protect from ticks and Lyme disease, like long sleeves, pants, and socks
- Apply EPA-approved tick repellent properly
- Remove clothing to protect from ticks and Lyme disease, like long sleeves, pants, and socks
- Examine yourself for ticks daily as the risk of Lyme disease is always there
Learn more about preventing encounters with ticks that carry Lyme disease on our prevention page.
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Why Are Ticks So Bad In Colorado This Year
The mild winter across the country, heavy spring rains, and hot summer temperatures are creating perfect conditions for ticks, experts say. This means hikers and campers, excited to get outside after the last year of the pandemic, should be extra cautious as they head out to the trails and forests this summer.
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Are Deer Ticks The Only Species That Carry Lyme Disease
Technically, ticks do not carry Lyme disease, but they can carry pathogens that cause Lyme disease. And deer ticks are not the only species that are capable of transmitting Lyme disease, though they are known to be the worst offenders.
In fact, studies have shown that up to 90 percent of deer ticks in northeastern states may be infected with Lyme disease. In addition, deer ticks can also transmit other diseases, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis and Ehrlichiosis.
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Its Unclear How Long Ticks Must Be Attached To You To Transmit Infections
Should you happen to quickly find a tick embedded in your skin, dont assume you have no chance of contracting Lyme disease or another tick-borne infection.
The CDC states that a tick must be attached to a host for 24-48 hours to transmit Lyme disease. But a 2015 review stated that the minimum attachment time for transmission of an infection has never been established.
That study also brought to light six documented cases of Lyme disease that had been transmitted in less than 6 hours. Plus, the other diseases that ticks carry such as babesiosis and bartonellosis may occur within minutes after a tick has latched onto your skin.
What does this mean for you? While the transmission risks may be lower the less time a tick is attached to you, the risk isnt completely eliminated if you find an embedded tick and remove it before 24 hours has passed.
Also, keep in mind, many people may not know how or when they acquired a tick bite, making it very difficult to calculate the length of time it was attached for.
Treating Early Stage Lyme Disease
The early stages of Lyme disease usually include the bull’s-eye rash and flu-like symptoms of chills and fever, fatigue, muscle pain, and headache. In rare cases, people develop an abnormal heartbeat .
All of these conditions are treated with 14 to 28 days antibiotics courses. The exact number of days depends on the drug used and the person’s response to it. Antibiotics for treating Lyme disease generally include:
- Doxycycline. This antibiotic is effective against both Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis . It is the standard antibiotic for anyone over 8 years old, except for pregnant women. It is a form of tetracycline and can discolor teeth and inhibit bone growth in young children. It can also cause birth defects if used during pregnancy.
- Amoxicillin. This type of penicillin is probably the best antibiotic for pregnant women. Some people are allergic to penicillin and strains of Lyme bacteria are emerging that are resistant to it.
- Cefuroxime . This cephalosporin antibiotic is an alternative treatment for young children and for adults with penicillin allergy.
- Intravenous ceftriaxone or cefotaxime. Intravenous infusions of one of these cephalosporin antibiotics may be warranted if there are signs of infection in the central nervous system or heart.
Other types of antibiotics, such as macrolides like azithromycin and clarithromycin, are not recommended for first-line therapy.
Antibiotic Side Effects
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Zoonosis And Human Transmission
Lyme disease can infect both dogs and humans. Humans do not get Lyme directly from dogs, but rather from the same deer-ticks that can infect people. Limit the opportunities for your pet to bring ticks into your spaces by implementing tick control measures.
Make sure to check both of your bodies for ticks after being in areas with a high prevalence, as well as after being in tall grass, forest litter and brushing against other vegetation.
What Tests Are Available For Lyme Disease
When a person becomes infected, the body creates antibodies to protect itself from the bacteria. Certain blood tests are available to measure these antibodies. However, sometimes a “false negative” test can result if there are not enough antibodies in the blood for the tests to detect accurately. A doctor should also do a complete medical examination and gather information about your recent outdoor activities in order to make a clinical diagnosis for Lyme disease.
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Protect Yourself From Ticks
While most ticks do not cause serious health problems, it is important to protect yourself, your family and even your pets from tick bites. It is also important to remove attached ticks immediately in order to avoid potential infection or diseases that can be transmitted from the bite. Some tips to prevent tick bites include:
- Walk on cleared trails whenever possible and avoid walking in tall grassy or wooded areas.
- Wear light-coloured clothing and cover up as much skin as possible. For example, a hat, long-sleeved shirt and long pants with the legs tucked into socks or boots.
- Use a bug spray that contains the chemical DEET or Icaridin to repel ticks and reapply as frequently as directed.
- Check yourself for ticks after leaving a grassy or wooded area where ticks may live.
- Check your pets for ticks after they have been outside. You cannot get Lyme disease from your pet, but your pet can bring infected ticks inside. These ticks can fall off your pet and attach themselves to you.
Keep A Lookout For Symptoms From Tick Bite This Summer
Have you checked yourself or your child for tick bites lately?
If you havent already heard, this summer is a particularly booming year for tick populations across the country and in the state of Ohio. A black-legged tick , the kind that sometimes carries Lyme disease, was spotted just to the east of us in Vermilion earlier this summer. And Ohio is on the list of 24 states that contains counties with newly documented populations of deer ticks.
Tick bites are common. Some people are unaware of a tick bite at first. Be sure to check yourself and your children often, especially throughout the summer months when tick populations grow. Ticks are especially attracted to warm, moist areas of the skin like armpits, groins, or hair. Once they bite you, a tick may stick around drawing your blood for up to 10 days. The sooner you spot and remove a tick, the better.
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Treating Late Stage Lyme Disease
Most cases of Lyme disease involve a rash and flu-like symptoms that resolve within 1 month of antibiotic treatment. However, some people go on to develop late-stage Lyme disease, which includes Lyme arthritis and neurologic Lyme disease.
Untreated, slightly more than half of people infected with B. burgdorferi will develop Lyme arthritis. About 10% to 20 % of people develop neurologic Lyme disease. A very small percentage may develop acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, a serious type of skin inflammation occurring more frequently in Europe. These conditions are treated for up to 28 days with antibiotic therapy.
If arthritis symptoms persist for several months, a second 2 to 4 week course of antibiotics may be recommended. Oral antibiotics are used for Lyme arthritis and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans.
In rare cases, people with arthritis may need intravenous antibiotics. A 2 to 4 week course of intravenous ceftriaxone is used for treating severe cases of neurological Lyme disease. For milder cases, 2 to 4 weeks of oral doxycycline is an effective option.
Treatment Of The Disease
Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics prescribed by a doctor. The nature and duration of the treatment depends on the stage of infection and symptoms.
People who are treated usually experience a quick and full recovery from the disease. Some, however, may have symptoms for several months after the treatment.
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Dragen Alle Hertenteken Lyme
Teken leven het liefst in beboste gebieden, laagblijvende graslanden en erven. Niet alle teken dragen de bacterie van de ziekte van Lyme. Afhankelijk van de locatie is minder dan 1% tot meer dan 50% van de teken ermee besmet. Hoewel de meeste tekenbeten ongevaarlijk zijn, kunnen verschillende soorten levensbedreigende ziekten veroorzaken.
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Lyme Disease In Qubec
There are a dozen species of ticks in Québec. Since ticks can be transported by birds, they are found in almost all regions of Québec. However, not all ticks carry the bacteria. The only species that can transmit Lyme disease in Québec and northeastern North America is the Ixodes scapularis tick, also called the deer tick or blacklegged tick.
In Québec, according to available surveillance data, Ixodes scapularis ticks are established in the following areas:
- 274 cases in 2020
- and 709 cases in 2021
The fact that Québec winters are less cold than they used to be partly explains the increases before 2020. The warmer climate enables the ticks to survive and grow more easily.
In Québec, it has been mandatory to report Lyme disease infection cases since 2003. Any laboratory staff member or doctor who diagnoses the disease must notify the public health authorities.
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Which Tick Carries Lyme Disease
Steven Ellingson/Shutterstock.com
In the United States, the Lyme disease-causing bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii are carried by the black-legged, or deer tick species. But how can you tell if a tick is a deer tick, and how can you prevent picking up one? And what are the warning signs and symptoms of Lyme disease? Let us get into it!
How To Safely Remove A Tick
Not all ticks carry Lyme disease, and some ticks carry other diseases. To avoid infecting yourself, never crush a tick with your fingers. For more information on the safe removal, disposal and identification of ticks visit CDC.gov/ticks.
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When Will You Be Outside Where Will You Be
Some pests are more active at certain times. For example, some mosquitoes are most active between dusk and dawn. Ticks may be active at any time of day. Some places are more likely to have higher activity too. Mosquitoes generally live in areas with brush and trees. Ticks prefer areas with tall grass, brush and trees.
Protecting Property From Tick Infestation
To decrease the tick population around your yard:
- Clear the yard regularly by raking leaves, trimming bushes, pruning low-lying branches, mowing lawn.
- Create a 3-foot wide barrier around the perimeter of your lawn with wood chips, gravel, or mulch.
- Place cardboard tubes stuffed with permethrin-treated cotton in places where mice can find them. These tubes are available in hardware stores. Mice collect the cotton for lining their nests the pesticide on the cotton kills any immature ticks that feed on the mice. For best results, do several tube applications from early to late summer.
- Erect fences or use repellants or deer-resistant plants to keep deer away.
- Consider spraying once a year a small amount of tick-killing insecticide such as permethrin or bifenthrin around the perimeter of your yard. To avoid health and environmental risks, consult a licensed professional experienced with tick control.
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How Should A Tick Be Removed
Grasp the mouthparts with tweezers as close as possible to the attachment site. Be careful not to squeeze, crush or puncture the body of the tick, which may contain infectious fluids. Pull firmly and steadily upward to remove the tick. After removing the tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash hands. The NYSDOH has created a video on proper tick removal and a printable card with steps on how to remove ticks . See or call a doctor if there are concerns about incomplete tick removal. Do not attempt to remove ticks by using petroleum jelly, lit cigarettes or other home remedies because these may actually increase the chance of contracting a tick-borne disease.
Protecting Yourself From Tick Bites
Tick-borne diseases are a public health problem that continues to increase. While most of these illnesses can be treated , limitations in tick-borne disease testing create barriers to accurate and timely diagnosis, leaving all too many patients to suffer preventable complications from untreated infections.
The best way to avoid contracting a tick-borne disease is to protect yourself and your pets from tick bites in the first place. Follow the tips below to keep yourself, your family, and your pets safe:
- Avoid tick habitats during outdoor activity.
- Check the areas around your home for tick infestations, especially if you have dogs.
- Always check for ticks on yourself, your children, and your pets after outdoor activity.
If you do find a tick on yourself, a family member, or a pet, remove it immediately using safe tick removal procedures. If possible, save the tick for testing, which can help with general tick surveillance and alert you to any potential disease exposure. IGeneX can test Brown Dog Ticks.
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How To Remove A Tick
Removing a tick is the same for humans and animals. Its important you do not crush or damage the tick because it could cause Lyme bacteria to pass from the tick into your bloodstream.
How to remove a tick.
Can You Get Bitten By A Tick In Winter
You can get bitten by a tick in the winter, but the likelihood is lessened for several reasons. For example, even if the weather is mild and ticks are still out looking for hosts, chances are your skin will be more thoroughly covered up in colder temperatures, which gives ticks less of an opportunity to latch on.
In areas where temperatures arent cold enough to warrant layers of clothing and complete covering of exposed skin, ticks can latch on the same as they would during the warmer months. Winter weather can often also involve series of increasing and decreasing temperatures. When a few cold days occur, followed by a stretch of unseasonal warmer weather, ticks can wake up from their hibernation and seek out a new host.
Black-legged ticks that do reach out for a host during those warmer days of winter do so because they did not get a full meal prior to the end of the fall season. Adult female ticks also require a full meal before dormancy to ensure they can lay their eggs the following spring, so when that happens, they have to take every advantage they can to latch on to a host, regardless of the season.
Image by on : What time of year do ticks carry Lyme disease? All year round.
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What About Insect Repellent
Consider using EPA-registered insect repellents:
- DEET can be applied to exposed skin. Products that contain 20% or more DEET can provide protection that lasts up to several hours. Use the lowest concentration that you will need for the amount of time you will be outdoors.
- Picaridin is a colorless, nearly odorless ingredient that can be applied to exposed skin in a range of 5 to 20% of the active ingredient.
- Permethrin: Clothes, shoes and camping gear can be treated or purchased pretreated with permethrin. Its protection can last through many washes. Never apply permethrin to skin.
The New York State Health Department recommends taking these precautions when using repellents that contain these active ingredients:
Whats The Most Important Thing People Can Do To Protect Themselves
Read about the disease. If you are in an area where Lyme disease is frequently diagnosed, learn how to protect yourself and how to recognize symptoms. Get antibiotic treatment started quickly if you or your doctor suspects you might have early Lyme diseasedo not wait for lab test results. In most cases, people with Lyme disease will recover with no problem.
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