How Can You Reduce Tick Habitats Near Your Home
Here are some ways to limit exposure to ticks near your home:
- Mow the lawn regularly to keep the grass short
- Remove leaf litter, brush and weeds at the edge of the lawn and around stonewalls and woodpiles
- Stack firewood neatly and in a dry area
- Put barriers to exclude deer around your home and seal stonewalls and small openings to discourage rodent activity
- Place children’s recreational playground sets, patios and decks away from the yard edges and trees. Place them on a woodchip or mulch foundation and in a sunny location, if possible.
- Treat pets that are commonly exposed to ticks with oral or topic acaricides as they could carry ticks into the home
Q How Long Does A Tick Have To Stick To You To Transmit Infections
A. For Rocky Mountain spotted fever, it takes 2 to 96 hours for Lyme disease, it depends on the tick. One transmits the infection between 4 and 72 hours the other from 48-96 hours. For anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, a tick needs to be attached for 24 to 50 hours. It is unknown how long a tick needs to be attached to transmit Powassan or Heartland virus.
Symptoms Of Lyme Disease
A circular or oval shape rash around a tick bite can be an early symptom of Lyme disease in some people.
The rash can appear up to 3 months after being bitten by an infected tick, but usually appears within 1 to 4 weeks. It can last for several weeks.
The rash can have a darker or lighter area in the centre and might gradually spread. It’s not usually hot or itchy.
The rash may be flat, or slightly raised, and look pink, red, or purple when it appears on white skin. It can be harder to see the rash on brown and black skin and it may look like a bruise.
Some people also get flu-like symptoms a few days or weeks after they were bitten by an infected tick, such as:
- a high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery
- headache
- tiredness and loss of energy
Some people with Lyme disease develop more severe symptoms months or years later.
This is more likely if treatment is delayed.
These more severe symptoms may include:
- pain and swelling in joints
- nerve problems such as pain or numbness
- heart problems
- trouble with memory or concentration
You May Like: Common Signs Of Lyme Disease
Stage : Late Disseminated Lyme Disease
Late disseminated Lyme disease occurs when the infection hasnt been treated in stages 1 and 2. Stage 3 can occur months or years after the tick bite.
This stage is characterized by:
- arthritis of one or more large joints
- brain disorders, such as encephalopathy, which can cause short-term memory loss, difficulty concentrating, mental fogginess, problems with following conversations and sleep disturbance
- numbness in the arms, legs, hands, or feet
How Do You Know If A Tick Bite Is Infected On A Dog
Yes, just like any skin wound, tick bites can become infected. Tick bites arent typically itchy, so if you find your pup scratching at an old tick bite wound, it is a sign that an infection may have developed. Other signs include worsening, or continued, redness and weeping or oozing around the wound.
Read Also: Is Lyme Disease A Bacterial Infection
Chronic Lyme Disease Symptom Severity
In LDos chronic Lyme disease survey, over 75% of patients reported at least one symptom as severe or very severe and 63% reported two or more such symptoms. Find out more about LDo peer-reviewed published surveys. The chart below shows the severity of ten common chronic Lyme symptoms.
The survey also found that patients with chronic Lyme disease have high disability and unemployment rates. Over 40% of patients with chronic Lyme disease reported that they currently are unable to work because of Lyme disease and 24% report that they have received disability at some point in their illness.
Is There A Blood Test For Lyme Disease
If your doctor suspects that you have Lyme disease, they may order two blood tests. These will look for signs that your body is trying to fight it off. The results are most precise a few weeks after youâve been infected.
These tests are:
ELISA test. This test canât check for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. It can only look for your immune systemâs response to it.
Once Borrelia burgdorferi gets into your blood, your body begins to make special proteins called antibodies to fight it off. The ELISA test checks for those antibodies.
Although itâs the most common way to check for Lyme disease, the ELISA test isnât perfect. It can sometimes give false âpositiveâ results. On the other hand, if you have it done too soon after youâve been infected, your body may not have developed enough antibodies for the test to detect them. This will give you a ânegativeâ result even though you do have Lyme disease.
Western blot test. Whether your ELISA test comes back positive or negative, your doctor will need to do this blood test, too.
A Western blot uses electricity to split certain proteins in your blood into patterns. This is then compared to the pattern of people known to have Lyme disease.
At least five band matches means that you have Lyme disease. Still, not all labs have the same standards. Thereâs a chance that you could get a âpositiveâ result from one and a ânegativeâ result from another.
- Alzheimerâs disease
Don’t Miss: Can Bed Bugs Cause Lyme Disease
What Should I Do If I Find A Tick On My Child
Dont panic. First Lyme disease is spread by the black-legged tick, not by the larger and more-common dog tick. The risk of developing Lyme disease after a black-legged tick bite is low, especially if the tick has been attached for a short time.
If you find a tick on your child, remove it using a fine-tipped pair of tweezers. Grasp the body of the tick and pull in an upward motion until the tick comes out. Do not squeeze or twist the ticks body. Take note of the ticks size and color, and how long you think it has been attached to your child.
If your child has been bitten by a black-legged tick that has been attached for more than 24 hours and you are in a Lyme disease endemic area, consult with your pediatrician. In some cases, your child may be prescribed antibiotics to prevent Lyme disease from developing.
What Types Of Ticks Transmit Lyme Disease
In the northeast, Mid-Atlantic and north-central states, deer ticks or black-legged ticks are the only ticks known to transmit Lyme disease. On the Pacific coast, the ticks that transmit Lyme disease are the western black-legged tick . Dog ticks and other kinds of ticks are not known to cause Lyme disease.
The most visible sign of Lyme disease is the characteristic rash called erythema migrans or ‘bull’s eye.’ This rash usually develops within one month of the tick bite. It typically occurs at the site of the bite, starting as a red area and then expanding in size over days and weeks.
Recommended Reading: How To Cure Lyme Disease Naturally
Can You Get Lyme From Your Pets
Theres no evidence of direct transmission of Lyme from pets to humans. But dogs and other domestic animals can bring Lyme-carrying ticks into your home. These ticks could attach to you and cause infection.
Its a good practice to check your pets for ticks after theyve been in tall grass, underbrush, or wooded areas where ticks are common.
What Happens When Lyme Disease Is Left Untreated
What happens when Lyme disease is left untreated? Consult your doctor even if signs and symptoms disappear the absence of symptoms doesnt mean the disease is gone. Untreated, Lyme disease can spread to other parts of your body for several months to years after infection, causing arthritis and nervous system problems .
What is the cure for Lyme disease? Antibiotics are the main treatment for Lyme disease. In many cases, a two- to four-week course of oral antibiotics clears up the infection.
What are the effects of untreated Lyme disease? The major issues are cardiac, neurological and arthritic complications if lyme is untreated. These include such things as heart inflammation, meningitis and joint inflammation among numerous other complications.
Can you heal Lyme disease? Lyme disease is usually cured by a prescription of antibiotics. In normal circumstances, when the disease is still in its early stage, a week or two of antibiotics dose is enough to treat the patient. But, if the disease has progressed to the late stage Lyme disease, it may take months or years for it to be cured.
Read Also: Chronic Neurological Lyme Disease Symptoms
The Test Isnt Designed To Detect The Exact Disease
A number of Lyme disease lab tests are designed to identify only a few species of the Borrelia bacteria that can cause Lyme disease. In the United States, for example, many tests are only designed to detect Borrelia burgdorferi, leaving out many other species that are less common yet still known to cause the disease in humans, including the recently discovered B. mayonii.
In fact, a recent internal study showed exactly how easily tests could miss infections from species other than B. burgdorferi. IGeneX researchers tested 43 samples all positive on IGeneX Lyme ImmunoBlot tests using the more limited Western blots prepared from the following species of Borrelia:
- burgdorferi B31
- spielmanii
- valensiana
When only a B. burgdorferi B31 Western Blot was performed, only 14 of the 43 Lyme ImmunoBlot-positive samples were Western-Blot-positive. In other words, the B. burgdoferi Western Blot missed 29 of the 43 infections. However, when all eight Western Blots were performed, the remaining twenty-nine samples were detected.
This inability of many lab tests to cast a wide enough net of detection could result in false-negative results for patients infected with different strains of disease-causing Borrelia.
What Are The Symptoms Of Chronic Lyme Disease
Home » Tick Talk » What Are the Symptoms of Chronic Lyme Disease?
Despite some skepticism in the medical community, chronic Lyme disease is a growing epidemic in the U.S. This stems partly from the shortcomings of many of the officially recommended Lyme disease tests, which leave too many patients with untreated infections that then become persistent and debilitating.
The following article will cover what you should know about chronic Lyme and provide an introductory but non-exhaustive chronic Lyme disease symptoms checklist.
You May Like: How Long To Treat Lyme Disease
Don’t Miss: What Doctor Do You See For Lyme Disease
Q What Is The Bourbon Virus
A. The Bourbon virus is likely spread through the bite of a lone star tick or an insect, the CDC says. A handful of cases of the virus have been reported in the Midwest and South, including some that have resulted in death. Symptoms of the virus can include rash, fever, nausea, body aches, tiredness, headache, and vomiting. There is no cure for an infection. Treatment may include IV fluids and painmedications.
Ticks And Lyme Disease What You Need To Know
- May 15th, 2020
Tick bites are common and with the increasing prevalence of Lyme disease in our area, tick bites cause a lot of worry for parents and children. If you or your child gets a tick bite dont panic, it is important to make note of the size, color, and shape of the tick and to remove the tick promptly.
Our patients and their parents have been asking a lot of excellent questions about tick bites and Lyme disease. Please find the answers to these frequently asked questions below and call us with any questions or concerns.
You May Like: How Long Does Lyme Disease Last In Humans
What You Need To Know About Lyme Disease
-
Lyme disease is an infection caused by the spiral-shaped bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is most commonly transmitted by a tick bite.
-
There are over 300,000 estimated new cases of Lyme disease in the United States each year.
-
The symptoms of Lyme disease depend on the how long the infection has been present in the body. The first sign of Lyme disease is often an expanding round or oval red “bullseye” rash.
-
If left untreated, people may develop neurological symptoms and heart problems, and have an approximately 60 percent chance of developing Lyme arthritis.
How Can Lyme Disease Be Prevented
Unfortunately, there is currently no vaccine for Lyme disease. But you can avoid Lyme disease by avoiding tick bites, checking for ticks, and removing ticks promptly, before they become lodged in the skin. Some tips:
Avoid tick playgrounds: Ticks like low-level shrubs and grasses, particularly at the edges of wooded areas. If youre hiking, try to stay in the center of the trail and avoid bushwhacking. Walk on cleared paths or pavement through wooded areas and fields when possible.
Dress appropriately: Long pants with legs tucked into socks and closed-toed shoes will help keep ticks away from skin. Light-colored clothing helps make ticks visible.
Insect repellant: Products that contain DEET repel ticks but do not kill them and are not 100 percent effective. Use a brand of insect repellent that is designated as child-safe if your child is 1 year or older. For infants, check with your pediatrician about what brands are safe to use. You can also treat clothing with a product that contains permethrin, which is known to kill ticks on contact.
Shower after outdoor activities are done for the day. It may take four to six hours for ticks to attach firmly to skin. Showering will help remove unattached ticks.
- all parts of the body that bend: behind the knees, between fingers and toes, underarms and groin
- other areas where ticks are commonly found: belly button, in and behind the ears, neck, hairline, and top of the head
- anywhere clothing presses on the skin
Also Check: Doxycycline Monohydrate For Lyme Disease
Other Canine Diseases Carried By Ticks
Ticks can also carry several other less common but serious bacterial diseases affecting dogs, including anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
Anaplasmosis can involve symptoms similar to those for Lyme disease. Babesiosis can present with a wide range of symptoms, from sudden and severe shock, high fever, and dark urine to a slowly progressing infection with more subtle clinical signs. Diagnosis of both diseases includes blood tests similar to those used to check for Lyme disease.
Sometimes, dogs and people can become sick with co-infection of multiple tick-borne diseases, where more than one type of disease-causing bacteria is transmitted through a tick bite. This situation can make diagnosis and treatment even more challenging and difficult.
Is It Normal For A Dog To Have A Bump After A Tick Bite
Ticks are one of the most common parasitic causes of lumps. On some occasions the lump that you see is actually the tick still attached to your pets skin. It could also be the reaction to a tick bite, looking like a small lump on your dogs skin. Tick bite reactions are more likely to lead to a firm lump .
You May Like: Prophylactic Treatment For Lyme Disease
Learn The Stages Of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease occurs in three stages: early localized, early disseminated and late disseminated. However the stages can overlap and not all patients go through all three. A bulls-eye rash is usually considered one of the first signs of infection, but many people develop a different kind of rash or none at all. In most cases, Lyme symptoms can start with a flu-like illness. If untreated, the symptoms can continue to worsen and turn into a long-lived debilitating illness.
Stage 1: Early Localized Disease
Symptoms with early localized Lyme disease may begin hours, a few days or even weeks after a tick bite. At this point, the
infection has not yet spread throughout the body. Lyme is the easiest to cure at this stage.
Symptoms may include:
- skin rash, which may or may not look like a bulls eye
- flu-like illness, including chills and fever
- fatigue
- muscle soreness and joint pain
- swollen lymph nodes
- sore throat
Stage 2: Early Disseminated Lyme
Early disseminated Lyme may occur several weeks or months after the tick bite. Bacteria are beginning to spread throughout the body. In addition to flu-like symptoms, this stage is often characterized by increase in symptoms such as:
- chills
- pain, weakness or numbness in the arms, legs
- vision changes
- heart problems, such as palpitations, chest pain
- rash may appear on body
- facial paralysis
Stage 3: Late Disseminated Lyme Disease
Related Content
Find a LLMD
Lyme Symptom Tracker App
Get started with your diary
How To Keep Ticks Out Of Your Yard
Ticks love tall grass and cool, damp areas. On the “Consumer 101” TV show, Consumer Reports expert Catherine Roberts explains how to make your yard less inviting to these pests.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article stated that a tick must be attached for about 24 hours before Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be transmitted. We’ve updated the story to reflect that the CDC advises consumers that RMSF could be transmitted by an attached tick in as little as 2 hours.
Catherine Roberts
As a science journalist, my goal is to empower consumers to make informed decisions about health products, practices, and treatments. I aim to investigate what works, what doesn’t, and what may be causing actual harm when it comes to people’s health. As a civilian, my passions include science fiction, running, Queens, and my cat. Follow me on Twitter: .
Recommended Reading: Can Dogs Live With Lyme Disease
Who Is At Risk
Many occupations may be at risk, including forestry, farming, veterinarians, construction, landscaping, ground keepers, park or wildlife management, and anyone who either works outside or has contact with animals that may carry ticks
Similarly, any person who spends a lot time outdoors , especially in grassy or wooded areas may also be at risk.
