Ticks On The West Coast
You may have thought Lyme disease is an East Coast problem. While it is a more significant issue in the New England area, ticks and Lyme disease are now a nationwide problem. Every state has reported cases.
There are many reasons why Lyme disease has moved into California. One is that people from other states travel to California to visit family, amusement parks, and, yes, beaches. Travelers carry deer ticks that carry Lyme disease with them, unknowingly.
Another reason is climate change and the continual development of land. The more we cut down forests to build homes and office buildings, forest animals must find a new home. Deer, for example, carry ticks that carry Lyme disease. As we develop land, deer are being seen more often roaming residential neighborhoods. Thus, bringing Lyme disease into your personal environment.
There are things you need to know about the black-legged deer tick that is spreading the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme disease in California. First, the symptoms caused by Lyme disease.
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
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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Types Of Ticks That Carry Lyme Disease
Medically reviewed by Neka Miller, PhD on August 11, 2020. To give you technically accurate, evidence-based information, content published on the Everlywell blog is reviewed by credentialed professionals with expertise in medical and bioscience fields.
Around the world, there are hundreds of tick speciesâbut what ticks carry Lyme disease? Letâs take a closer look at the specific types of ticks that carry Lyme disease, where and when theyâre found, how you can help prevent tick bites, and how to test for Lyme disease from home if you are bitten.
What Ticks Carry Lyme Disease
Article Summary
- Black-legged ticks, also called deer ticks or Ixodes scapularis are the ticks primarily responsible for infecting humans with the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease.1
- There are several other types of ticks such as the American dog tick , the Lone Star tick, and others that dont cause Lyme Disease but can can transmit harmful bacteria which can lead to other types of infections
- Most cases of Lyme disease occur in the upper midwest and the northeastern portion of the U.S. but cases are rising everywhere.2
- Lyme disease is often caused by tiny tick nymphs that often go undetected and remain attached long enough to transmit the Lyme disease bacteria.3
- The transfer of bacteria from ticks to humans, is what causes Lyme disease
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What Is Disseminated Lyme Disease
- This is when the bacteria that causes Lyme disease spreads throughout your body.
- This can occur within days to months after the tick bite.
- Symptoms include:
- Multiple erythema migrans rashes.,
- Nervous system involvement .,
- Heart involvement .,
- Connective tissue involvement .,
- Eye involvement .,
What To Do If You Do Get Bitten
1. Don’t panic. It’s a hard rule to follow, Pritt admits, but remember that not every tick carries a harmful bacteria or virus.
2. Forget the folk remedies: “Grab a pair of fine tipped tweezers, remove as quickly as possible as close to skin as you can by pulling it out in a smooth, continuous motion without twisting it,” Pritt says. And don’t light a match or roll it in butter, as in fact, those methods often result in only partial removal.
3. Save it: Put the tick in a plastic bag in the freezer, especially if you think it may have been attached a long time, which may increase the risk of Lyme disease transmission. That way if you decide to see a doctor, they’ll be able to identify the type of tick that bit you, and even test it for disease-causing bacteria. Keep in mind, though, that you may not get infected even if the tick tests positive, Dempsey says.
4. Watch for symptoms: A rash, headache, flu-like symptoms and joint pain can all be signs of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis. A stiff neck and swollen lymph nodes are associated with Lyme disease.
IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS: Many people with Lyme disease don’t remember getting a rash or a tick bite. So mention your concerns to your health care provider. Blood tests may be able to detect Lyme disease after your body has developed antibodies.
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How Can You Prevent Lyme Disease
The best way to protect against Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. Check the detailed risk areas map to find out where infected ticks are most likely to be found. Remember, as tick populations spread, the risk of acquiring Lyme disease will occur outside these areas in the future. Ticks can be dispersed out of these areas by migratory birds so there is a low risk of being bitten by a tick outside of the known risk areas.
It is recommended that Canadians travelling to highly Lyme endemic areas of the US and Europe, apply permethrin treatments to their clothing or use clothing pre-treated with permethrin. These products can be obtained in some travel clinics or from outdoors retailers when in the US.
Ticks can be infected with more than one type of bacteria that can cause human illness. Guarding against tick bites will protect you from more than just Lyme disease.
Here are some ways to protect yourself if you venture into wooded or forested areas within risk areas for Lyme disease:
The Chance Of Getting Lyme Disease
Not all ticks in England carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
But it’s still important to be aware of ticks and to safely remove them as soon as possible, just in case.
Ticks that may cause Lyme disease are found all over the UK, but high-risk places include grassy and wooded areas in southern and northern England and the Scottish Highlands.
Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures that live in woods, areas with long grass, and sometimes in urban parks and gardens. They’re found all over the UK.
Ticks do not jump or fly. They attach to the skin of animals or humans that brush past them.
Once a tick bites into the skin, it feeds on blood for a few days before dropping off.
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How Ticks Spread Lyme Disease:
According to the CDC, ticks spread the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, by biting and feeding on humans. They attach from a loose stalk of grass or foliage, before crawling into a hard to see, blood-rich part of the body like the groin, armpit, or scalp. Ticks that are found and unattached quickly usually dont transmit the bacteria, but ticks attached for anywhere from 36 to 48 hours will easily spread the disease.
What Can A Workplace Or Home Do To Reduce The Presence Of Ticks
Keep the lawn and yard well maintained to prevent ticks from living near the home or workplace.
- Keep the grass mowed. Trim trees and shrubs.
- Remove leaf litter, brush, and weeds at the edge of the lawn, and around stonewalls and woodpiles.
- Clean up and seal stonewalls and small openings around the home to help discourage rodents.
- Keep stacked firewood piles and bird feeders away from buildings.
- Keep any pets, particularly dogs, out of the woods and talk to your veterinarian about tick repellents for your pets.
- Move children’s swing sets and sandboxes away from the woodland’s edge and use a woodchip or mulch foundation.
- Consider using hard landscape items such as woodchips, mulch, stones, gravel, tile, or metals.
- Create a border or barrier between the lawn, woods, or stonewalls to discourage deer and rodent activity.
- Widen woodland trails.
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Lyme Disease Nymph Tick
The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks.The blacklegged tick spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States.The western blacklegged tick spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast.Ticks can attach to any part of the human.
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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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.
What To Do If You Are Bitten By A Tick
Remove a tick as soon as possible to reduce your risk of infection.
As a result of staffing and resources being focused on our COVID-19 response, Southwestern Public Health will not be accepting ticks submitted for identification at the current time.
Please refer to the information below for Online tick identification this website will guide you through the process of determining the type of tick you were exposed to.
It is important to know that identifying the type of tick helps to determine your risk of Lyme disease. In Ontario, only deer ticks can transmit Lyme disease. Waiting for further testing to determine if the tick has Lyme disease is not recommended as a factor in deciding if treatment is needed. Your Health Care Provider will assess your risk of Lyme disease based on how long the tick was attached and your symptoms as well as other things.
- Contact a health care provider if you notice fever, chills, headache or the bulls eye rash after being bitten by a tick.
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How Common Is Erythema Migrans In People With Lyme Disease
- This occurs in about 70-80% of cases nationally.,
- In Maine, the rash is reported in about 50% of cases. This is likely lower than the actual number since not all rashes are reported.
- This usually appears 3-30 days after a tick bite.,
- Early on, the rash of Lyme disease may appear only as a flat red circle without the “bull’s-eye” appearance.
- The rash usually expands and then goes away. Its disappearance does not necessarily mean the infection is gone.
Which Ticks Should I Worry About
Nymphal ticks cause most cases of Lyme disease. Because nymphs are as small as poppy seeds and their bite is painless, people often dont realize they have been bitten. Adult ticks can also infect humans, but are easier to spot and remove.
Not all ticks are infected. Because tick studies have only been done in a relatively few places, in most of the US, tick infection rates are unknown. Even in places where ticks generally do not carry Lyme, there may be hotspots of infection depending on local conditions. The tick infection rate may also change from year to year, even in one location.
To get a better idea of which tick-borne diseases have been found in your area, check this site.
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Where Do We Find Ticks
Generally, you can find ticks where the animals they feed on live. This usually includes wooded and grassy areas. An adult tick quests for its next blood meal by climbing up grasses and bushes to wait for an animal to pass by. Nymphs and larvae are typically found in layers of decomposing leaves underneath trees. Ticks thrive in damp environments and are less active in hot, dry weather.
How To Avoid Getting Bitten
To avoid a tick encounter, you’ll want to be vigilant about taking precautions whenever you’re spending a significant amount of time outdoors in tick territory, whether you’re hiking or mowing your lawn. Fortunately, the same prevention techniques work for all types of ticks, Pritt says:
1. Get dorky: Repelling ticks starts with your outfit. Choose long sleeves and pants if possible. “And it may feel dorky, but tucking your pants into your socks gives ticks less access into the areas they can bite,” says Pritt, who wears white coveralls and duct-tapes the legs to her socks when going on tick drags. Spray exposed skin with a good repellent. And treat clothes likely to be worn in tick habitat ahead of time with a permethrin repellent for the greatest protection.
2. Strip: After your adventure – even if it’s just mowing the lawn – the easiest way to make sure ticks stay outside is to disrobe as soon as possible shed all your clothes on a porch before going inside to keep any hangers-on outside if possible jump in the shower, check for ticks and scrub. Remember that disease-carrying ticks can be tiny: at the nymph stage, when it’s likely to bite you, a black-legged tick is the size of a poppy seed. Don’t forget about pets and kids. Check them for ticks outside otherwise, a tick can fall off a dog inside and bite you.
3. Disinfect: Throw discarded clothes into the dryer on high heat for at least six minutes to kill any stragglers.
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What Ticks Carry Lyme
In the United States, some ticks carry pathogens that can cause human disease, including: Anaplasmosis is transmitted to humans by tick bites primarily from the blacklegged tick in the northeastern and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick along the Pacific coast. Babesiosis is caused by microscopic parasites.
Stage : Early Localized Disease
Symptoms of Lyme disease usually start 1 to 2 weeks after the tick bite. One of the earliest signs of the disease is a bulls-eye rash.
The rash occurs at the site of the tick bite, usually, but not always, as a central red spot surrounded by a clear spot with an area of redness at the edge. It may be warm to the touch, but it isnt painful and doesnt itch. This rash will gradually fade in most people.
The formal name for this rash is erythema migrans. Erythema migrans is said to be characteristic of Lyme disease. However, many people dont have this symptom.
Some people have a rash thats solid red, while people with dark complexions may have a rash that resembles a bruise.
The rash can occur with or without systemic viral or flu-like symptoms.
Other symptoms commonly seen in this stage of Lyme disease include:
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