[pct-l] How to avoid being ticked off at ticks. By WA Health Dept.

[Cat Nelson]

Ticks

Ticks are small blood-feeding parasites that can transmit diseases to
people. Some types of ticks perch on the edge of low-lying vegetation and
grab onto animals, and people, as they brush past. Other ticks are
associated with rodents and their nests and may only come out at night to
feed. Once aboard, ticks crawl until they find a good spot to feed, then
burrow their mouth parts into the skin for a blood meal. Their bodies
slowly enlarge to accommodate the amount of blood ingested. Ticks feed
anywhere from several minutes to several days depending on their species,
life stage, and type of host.

Avoiding Tick Bites

Outdoor Activities

When working, camping, or walking in a tick habitat - wooded, brushy, or
grassy places - a few simple precautions can reduce your chance of being
bitten.

Wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Tuck your pant legs into socks or
boots and shirt into pants. This can help keep ticks on the outside of your
clothing where they can be more easily spotted and removed.
Wear light colored, tightly woven clothing which will allow the dark tick
to be seen more easily. The tight weave makes it harder for the tick to
attach itself.
Use tick repellent when necessary, and carefully follow instructions on the
label. Products containing DEET or permethrin are very effective in
repelling ticks. Take special care when using repellents on children.
Check yourself, your children, and pets thoroughly for ticks. Carefully
inspect areas around the head, neck, ears, under arms, between legs, and
back of knees. Look for what may appear like a new freckle or speck of dirt.
Shower or bathe (preferably within two hours after being in tick habitat)
to wash off and more easily find ticks that are crawling on you.
Cabins and Rodents

When staying in summer cabins or vacation homes, especially in eastern
Washington, make sure rodents, and their ticks, aren't spending the night
with you. Practice rodent control by not attracting rodents, sealing them
out of your living areas, trapping rodents, and properly cleaning up
rodent-contaminated areas.

Around the Home Management

Focus your management of tick habitat to areas frequently used by your
family, not necessarily your entire property.

Use brick, paving, decking, gravel, container plantings, and low water
requirement plants to encourage bright sunny areas immediately around your
home - open sunny areas are less likely to harbor ticks.
Keep grass mowed, shrubs trimmed, and restrict the use of ground cover in
family or pet areas.
Keep dogs and cats out of the woods to keep them from bringing home ticks.
Tick control products are available for pets - follow label instructions
and talk to your veterinarian if you have questions.
Widen woodland trails.
Move swing sets, sand boxes, and other children play areas away from the
edge of woods and place them on a wood chip or mulch foundation.
Use plantings that don't attract deer or exclude deer through fencing.
Practice rodent control to discourage rodent activity in and around your
home.
Removing a Tick

Promptly remove the tick using fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick as
close to the skin surface as possible and pull upward with steady, even
pressure. Avoid removing the tick with bare hands. Don't twist or jerk the
tick -- this may cause the mouth parts to break off and remain in the skin.
If this happens, remove the mouth parts with tweezers.
After removing the tick, disinfect the bite site and wash your hands.
Note the date that you found the tick attached to you, just in case you
become ill. If a fever, rash, or flu-like illness occurs within a month,
let your doctor know that you were bitten by a tick. This information may
assist your doctor in diagnosing your illness.
Avoid Folk Remedies to Remove a Tick

Hot matches or coating the tick's body with petroleum jelly, soap, or nail
polish do little to encourage a tick to detach from skin. In fact, they may
make matters worse by irritating the tick and causing it to release
additional saliva, increasing the chance of transmitting disease. These
methods of tick removal should be avoided.

Identifying Ticks

Neither the Washington State Public Health Laboratory nor the CDC test
ticks for disease. We can, however, identify ticks to species. Because
different tick species transmit different pathogens, knowing the tick
species may help a health care provider diagnose an illness that could be
associated with a tick bite.

Healthcare providers and local health departments investigating a possible
human tick-borne disease case should submit a tick for identification using
the Microbiology Submission Form (PDF). Mark "Parasitology" and indicate
the tick exposure location under the "Comments" section.
Ticks found on you, a family member, or a pet can be submitted for
identification using the Tick Identification Submission Form (PDF).
Diseases Spread by Ticks

Washington has relatively few tick-borne disease cases reported each year
in comparison to some areas of the United States. If you think you have
symptoms of a tick-borne disease, contact your doctor. Doctors are asked to
notify local health department of suspected or confirmed cases of
tick-borne disease (see Notifiable Conditions). The following diseases can
be transmitted by a tick bite in Washington.

Lyme Disease

The first sign of Lyme disease is usually an expanding circular rash which
starts at the site of the tick bite. The rash may have a target-shape or
"bull's-eye" appearance. Fever, headache, muscle aches, and joint pain may
also occur. If left untreated, later symptoms can include recurring joint
pain, heart disease, and nervous system disorders. Lyme disease is the most
common tick-borne disease in the United States, but is rare in Washington.
Only 0 to 3 Lyme disease cases per year are reported to be infected in
Washington. Lyme disease is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria,
which can be transmitted through the bite of a western black-legged tick,
Ixodes pacificus. Western black-legged ticks pick up the bacteria after
feeding on infected rodents. These ticks live in forested or brushy areas
of western Washington. Learn more about Lyme disease.

Tick-borne Relapsing Fever

Symptoms include relapsing (recurrent) periods of fever lasting for 2 to 7
days, disappearing for about 4 to 14 days, and then reoccurring. One to 12
cases of tick-borne relapsing fever are reported each year in Washington.
Most people become infected while staying in rural, mountainous cabins of
eastern Washington during the summer months. The soft tick, Ornithodorus
hermsi, typically feeds on rodents, which is where they pick up the
Borrelia hermsii bacteria. The infected tick can then transmit the bacteria
by feeding on a person for short periods of time while they are sleeping.
Since these ticks are associated with rodent burrows and nests, it's
important to keep rodents out of cabins and other sleeping areas. Learn
more about tick-borne relapsing fever.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Initial symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever may include fever, nausea,
vomiting, muscle pain, lack of appetite, and severe headache. A rash
generally, but not always, appears a few days later. Abdominal pain, joint
pain, and diarrhea can also occur. Each year, 0 to 3 cases of Rocky
Mountain spotted fever are identified in Washington. Some of the cases are
infected in Washington, some are infected elsewhere. The bacteria that
causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever is transmitted by the bite of an
infected American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, or Rocky Mountain wood
tick, D. andersoni. These ticks are found throughout the state and prefer
woodland areas, medium height grasses and shrubs between wetlands and
woods, and sunny or open areas around woods. They are especially common in
eastern Washington. Learn more about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, CDC.

Tick Paralysis

Tick paralysis is caused by a neurotoxin from an attached tick. This
condition is characterized by a progressive paralysis that usually starts
in the legs with muscle weakness, loss of coordination, numbness, and
difficulty standing or walking. The symptoms progress upwards to the
abdomen, back, and chest. If the tick is not removed, paralysis of the
chest muscles can lead to respiratory failure and death within 24 to 48
hours after symptoms begin. Prompt removal of the tick usually leads to a
complete recovery. Twelve cases of tick paralysis have been reported in
Washington from 1990 through 2011. Ticks associated with tick paralysis
include Ixodes and Dermacentor species that live in forested and brushy
areas or along edges between open grassy areas and woods. See Tick
Paralysis Case Report, CDC.

Tularemia

A tick bite is one way people can get tularemia. Symptoms of tularemia
following a tick bite include sudden fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes,
and a skin ulcer near the bite. One to 10 cases of tularemia are reported
each year in Washington - only some of these are due to tick bites and some
cases are acquired in other states. Ticks that can transmit tularemia in
Washington are the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, and the Rocky
Mountain wood tick, D. andersoni. These ticks are found throughout the
state and prefer woodland areas, medium height grasses and shrubs between
wetlands and woods, and sunny or open areas along the edge of woods. Find
out more at Tularemia, CDC.

Anaplasmosis

Symptoms of anaplasmosis include headache, fever, chills, and muscle aches.
No human cases have been reported in Washington, however, anaplasmosis has
been diagnosed in numerous dogs in our state. Western black-legged ticks,
Ixodes pacificus, can carry the bacteria that cause anaplasmosis and are
found in the western part of the state living in forested or brushy areas.
Learn more about Anaplasmosis, CDC.

Babesiosis

Symptoms of babesiosis include fever, chills, fatigue, muscle pain, and
anemia. Since 1990, only 2 cases have been reported as contracting the
disease in Washington. The western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, is
considered the vector of this disease in Washington. This tick is found in
forested or brushy areas of western Washington. See Babesiosis, CDC.



Content Source: Zoonotic Disease Program

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253-861-3425