It’s Tick Season: Here are the Facts

Gardeners, anglers and hikers all have at least one thing in common this time of year — concerns about ticks. These little arachnids can be a significant problem for people venturing outdoors. Ticks can be more than just a nuisance since they also can spread disease. This fact may be the most widely known in Pennsylvania, which has had the most cases of Lyme disease from ticks in the country every year since 2011.

Leah Lind, the Lyme and Tick Borne Disease coordinator within the Pennsylvania Bureau of Epidemiology at the Department of Health, feels the numbers for infections during last year might be lower than 2019 due to the pandemic. Additionally, it’s possible people didn’t go to the doctor or hospital as they normally would because of concerns about the coronavirus, and therefore people who may have had symptoms of Lyme disease went undetected because people didn’t seek treatment as they would in normal years.

How do I check for ticks?

People who do spend time in nature should check themselves when they come back in the home. Nicole Chinnici, the director of the Dr. Jane Huffman Wildlife Genetics Institute at East Stroudsburg University, says to check your body for ticks and also to take a warm shower within two hours of being outside. She also recommended brushing your dog that spends time outdoors to remove ticks. Pet owners should check with their veterinarians about the different medicines that can be used for tick and flea prevention as well.

What’s the best way to remove a tick?

If you find a tick attached to your body, Chinnici says the best method for removal is tweezers, not your fingers, or using matches to “burn out” the tick, or the commonly used liquid soap and cotton ball method. She said to avoid using lotions or other items that may aggravate the tick as that could cause it to regurgitate back into your body.  Sanitize the area, then use the tweezers to get the tick at the base of the head, closer to your skin. Pull up slowly and steadily, and then sanitize the bite area once the tick is fully removed.

What do you do after a tick bite?

Lind says that you don’t have to seek medical attention for all tick bites, just when your skin appears to be infected, red or swollen.

Where are ticks found?

Chinnici says ticks like moist, cool conditions and that’s when they are prevalent on taller grasses. “Ticks are more active in the morning,” she said about the cooler, wet time of the day.

When it’s hot and dry, the ticks stay under leaf litter to find moisture. But this time of year, it’s easier to see them in grassy areas and along field lines where there’s moisture on top of the foliage. She said a snowy winter protects ticks as the snow helps to incubate them in the cold environment. Researchers say they usually see a decline in samples in August when the hotter, dry weather drives ticks back under the ground cover.

Chinnici says that while the “highest tick populations are found on the edge of wooded areas,” you don’t have to be out in the woods or on a trail to encounter ticks. Many people receive tick bites while walking on their own lawns. She said yard work, clearing out leaves and working in gardens can put people at risk.

Lyme disease-infected ticks are found in these areas because the ticks like to use mice as their hosts and mice have bacteria. It’s believed white-footed mice are significant carriers for Lyme disease bacteria. Researchers believe ticks that feed on mice are highly likely to become infected, making them capable of transmitting Lyme disease to people.

What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

Early symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, joint pain and a skin rash that can sometimes appear like a bull’s eye.

Efforts to reduce Lyme disease

To reduce the spread of the disease from mice to ticks to humans, research is underway to create technology to vaccinate mice. Chinnici explained that bait boxes could be placed along field and wood edges that have vaccines in the bait food that will be eaten by mice. The boxes could be placed in state parks and other areas that are frequented by people as well as private personal lawns. Right now there are tick tubes available to reduce the chances of mice spreading Lyme disease to ticks. She said the tubes have cotton balls sprayed with permethrin that kills ticks. Mice take the cotton to build nests and then the ticks who host on mice die when the rodents lay in their nests.

The best way to prevent ticks from latching on to you

If you are planning to spend time outdoors, Chinnici recommends spraying your shoes and clothes with permethrin spray that’s available in stores. The chemical kills ticks on contact. She points out that it’s only for clothing, not skin. For your skin, you can use insect repellant to reduce the chance of a tick staying on your body. Lind agreed with protection efforts and pointed out the key areas are your shoe, socks and pants. “They crawl up,” she said about the bugs being found in grassy areas. She said campers can also spray their gear and tents with permethrin to keep ticks at bay. The spray can remain effective for about six weeks or so. “It’s good through several washings.”

“We still want people to go outdoors,” she said, but they just need to be aware.

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