Tick Talk
Written By: Marie C. Erwin, Library Media Specialist, Mt. Everett Regional School, Sheffield, MA
Ah, spring! Backyard cookouts, vacations, camping, walks in the woods. and ticks. Lots and lots of ticks, those tiny parasitic marvels, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim to brush past. Ticks need blood to live and breed, and any blood will do: bird, deer, dog, human. They’re not fussy. Contrary to popular belief, ticks don’t cause disease, they transmit disease, and very effectively, too! Ticks transmit a number of bacterial diseases but the most common and most serious one in the northeast is Lyme disease. The majority of cases occur in June, July, and August, the three months in which ticks actively seek hosts and human outdoor activity is greatest.
In the recent “Health of Massachusetts Report”, the Mass DPH finds that changes in the way we live, where we live, and population density are responsible for the more than 10-fold increase in reported Lyme disease over the past 15 years. Even with these dramatic increases, many cases are not diagnosed and most cases are not reported; and thousands of people suffer with illness and complications, which can include joint, nerve, and heart problems. Most cases of Lyme disease can be successfully treated with antibiotics. The key is early diagnosis. Typical symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue, and a skin rash that looks like a bull’s eye. For some pictures of that characteristic rash, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Lyme disease website http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/. And for information on symptoms and precautions to take, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) site http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm049298.htm
There’s only one way to get Lyme disease. You must be bitten by an infected deer tick (sounds like the plot of a horror movie). Dog ticks don’t transmit Lyme disease (though they can transmit the rare Rocky Mountain Fever), but how can you tell the difference between ticks? Print your tick identification card from the Mass DPH http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/images/dph/cdc/tick_id_card.jpg. Dog ticks are those giant ticks that you can spot a mile away (they are about the size of a watermelon seed). A nymph deer tick, on the other hand, is the size of the period at the end of this sentence. It takes about 24- hours for a tick to fully attach to the host (that’s you) and start feeding. So, a tick that has been attached for less than a day probably hasn’t had enough time to transmit the disease. The longer the tick is attached the greater the risk of disease.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers some helpful recommendations for outdoor workers to prevent tick bites that are also useful for any of us that spend time outdoors http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lyme/ . If you are in an area likely to have ticks, the most important thing you can do is to check yourself for ticks once a day. If you find an attached tick, remove it by following these instructions http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rmsf/Prevention.htm (and check out some old wives’ tales that don’t work!). Once the tick is removed, put it in a zip lock bag and freeze it. You may need it for identification if you develop symptoms later on.
As with most diseases, prevention is key. The Mass DPH has a no-nonsense 4-page brochure on Preventing Disease Spread by Ticks. It covers landscaping tips to reduce ticks on your property, how to dress in high-tick areas, and tick repellents http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/cdc/lyme/prevent_disease.pdf . The DPH also offers a tick maze to amuse your kids (and give you the creeps) http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/cdc/lyme/lyme_maze.pdf.
If you want more information on Lyme disease, the National Library of Medicine has an in-depth video tutorial http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/lymedisease/htm/index.htm Ticks are around whether we like it or not so arm yourself with information and don’t let ticks put the bite on you!