Monday, July 18, 2011

Tick Alert!

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service
A tick's friends - by David L. Harrison

a tick has
no
friends.

therefore,
my
story
ends.

Who hasn't' gone for a walk these past few weeks - with or without your trusty canine companion - and returned home only to execute a complete and thorough inspection on self and four legged friend? And I do mean thorough - armpits, behind the knees, neck, head, ears and stomach - and that's just the dog! And who does not know someone who has contracted Lyme disease?

If you find an embedded tick, it should be removed using the following procedure:
1. Use a tick removal tool to remove the tick.
2. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible using tweezers.
3. Remove the tick with a steady pull away from the skin. Do not yank or twist the tick which may break off its mouth parts. If you have broken off their mouth parts under your skin, consult your physician.
4. Take precaution not to crush or puncture the body of the tick. Do not get any fluids from the tick on you (if you do, wash with rubbing alcohol and then soap and water immediately.)
5. After removing the tick, cleanse your skin with rubbing alcohol and then wash with soap and water immediately.

Tick removal tools:
1. Tweezers: There are special tweezers to remove ticks that have a broad, flat set of jaws that closes automatically. You hold the tweezers with your thumb and forefinger and then you press on the end of the tweezers which will cause the jaws to open up. The next step is to clasp the tick completely between the jaws and turn the tweezers 2 or 3 times around. Only then can you gently pull the tick out of the skin.
2. Card: This is the one of the newest designs in tools to remove ticks. It looks like a credit card, but has grooves that come together in a point. These grooves need to be shoved underneath the tick. The last step is to shove the card further and that will automatically remove the tick. Another shape of this tool is the spoon. It works the same.
3. Freeze: This is another way to remove ticks that has recently been discovered. You have to have a tool called the Tickner to freeze the tick as follows: you spray a cold spray onto the tick by pressing the button twice which will make the tick freeze. Afterwards, you can easily remove the tick with the built-in tick remover.
4. Twister: This is the simplest and safest way to remove ticks from your skin. It is available in most pet shops and veterinary clinics. When you use this tool you have to put the tick between the V lift the hook very tightly and turn it. The tick is removed without leaving the mouthparts behind. The tick will remain on the twister so it won't fall on the ground.

Lyme disease, which is a tick-borne bacterial infection, has been reported in nearly every state in the United States, and is concentrated in the east coastal states, the north central states, and northern California. Additionally, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Wisconsin account for about 90% of all cases.  Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the United States. More than 16,000 cases were reported by 45 states in 1996. However, because of considerable under-reporting and misdiagnosis, the actual number of cases is probably several times higher.

Ticks become infected with the Lyme disease bacterium by feeding on infected animals such as mice, chipmunks, and other wild rodents. Lyme disease is passed to humans and other animals when a tick infected with the bacterium bites the person or animal and stays attached long enough (usually more than 36 hours) to take a blood meal.

The tick that spreads Lyme disease has a 2-year life cycle and feeds once in each of its three life stages -- larvae, nymph, and adult. In the tick's larvae stage, it is tan, the size of a pinhead, and feeds on small animals like mice. During the nymph stage, the tick is the size of a poppy seed, beige or partially transparent, and feeds on larger animals such as cats, dogs, and humans. Adult ticks are black and/or reddish and feed on large mammals such as deer, dogs, and humans.

The early stage of Lyme disease is usually marked by one or more of these signs and symptoms:
• Tiredness
• Chills and fever
• Headache
• Muscle and/or joint pain
• Swollen lymph glands
• A characteristic skin rash, called erythema migrans

Early symptoms can develop within a week to a few weeks of the tick bite.  Other symptoms can appear weeks, months, or years later.  A myth regarding the skin rash is that Lyme disease victims always get a rash when in fact as few as 30% of all people bitten show obvious symptoms of the disease, including a rash. When a rash does appear it is a red circular patch about 2 inches in diameter that appears and expands around the site of the tick bite.  The center may clear as it enlarges, resulting in a "bulls-eye" appearance.  The rash may be warm, but it usually is not painful or itchy.

The three stages of Lyme disease are:
1. Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, chills, headaches, stiff neck, muscle aches and pains and possibly a distinct rash.
2. Second stage symptoms occur weeks or months later and include severe headaches, encephalitis, paralysis of facial muscles, abnormal heartbeat, numbness, withdrawal, loss of confidence, lethargy, and other symptoms.
3. Third stage symptoms occur months or years later and include arthritis, fatigue and loss of memory. As the symptoms reach this stage of development the effects of Lyme disease is in most cases irreversible, and therefore early detection is critical for effective treatment.

You can reduce your risk by taking these precautions:
• During outdoor activities, wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks. Wear a hat, and tie hair back.
• Use insecticides to repel or kill ticks. Repellents containing the compound DEET can be used on exposed skin except for the face, but they do not kill ticks and are not 100% effective in discouraging ticks from biting. Products containing permethrin kill ticks, but they cannot be used on the skin -- only on clothing. And please remember - when using any of these chemicals, follow label directions carefully. Be especially cautious when using them on children.
• After outdoor activities, check yourself for ticks, and have a "buddy" check you, too. Check body areas where ticks are commonly found: behind the knees, between the fingers and toes, under the arms, in and behind the ears, and on the neck, hairline, and top of the head. Check places where clothing presses on the skin.
• Remove attached ticks promptly. Removing a tick before it has been attached for more than 24 hours greatly reduces the risk of infection. Do not try to remove ticks by squeezing them, coating them with petroleum jelly, or burning them with a match.

Life Cycle
EGG: A tick’s life starts as a very small egg.
LARVA (infant): A larva (plural: larvae) only has six legs instead of eight (like a nymph or adult) and normally does not carry diseases yet but it may pick up diseases from its first host (white mice or other mammals) on which it feeds for about four days. After its first feeding, the larva sheds its skin to become a nymph.
NYMPH (immature tick): A nymph has eight legs and can pass on diseases (if it got infected as a larva). A nymph feeds from a mammal. This second meal will last about six days. If the nymph is not yet infected with a disease, it can now get one from the second host. The nymph will then shed its skin and become an adult.
ADULT (mature tick): The adult female tick looks different from the male – she is larger. The adult tick feeds and mates with other ticks on large animals during the fall or spring. Afterwards, the female lays her eggs and dies.

Reproduction
A tick can reproduce in two different ways:
1.  Argasidae:  the ticks mate off-host when the female is not eating. This can happen before or after engorgement, which is enlargement by feeding.
2.  Ixodidae: the ticks mate on-host when the female is eating. Afterwards the female will engorge and drop off the host. This is the most frequent form of reproduction
The female then oviposits her eggs on a safe spot (normally a moist area). When it is warm, the female lay her eggs one or two days after fertilization. When it is cold, she can wait for months until she oviposits. When she eventually oviposits, she has about 2,000 eggs. Depending on the weather, she lays her eggs all at once or at intervals. After the oviposition, the female leaves her eggs and dies. The eggs usually hatch within two weeks, but may also take a couple of months.

Testing Ticks
Large brown ticks that are commonly found on dogs and cattle do not carry the Lyme disease bacterium. If you remove a very small tick and want to have it tested for Lyme disease, place it in a sealed plastic storage bag with a cotton ball moistened with water. Contact your health-care provider and local health department or send your tick to New Jersey Laboratories, which has developed a new procedure that allows for the early detection of the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Unlike other methods, this procedure identifies the bacteria in ticks in only a few days, which can make a huge difference in treating this life-threatening disease. Other clinical tests for diagnosing Lyme disease may take several weeks to months during which time the effects of the disease may become more difficult to treat. Place a label with your name and address on the ziplock bag and mail to:

NEW JERSEY LABORATORIES
1110 SOMERSET ST.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ 08901.

The test costs $60 and checks should be made payable to New Jersey Laboratories. Results are mailed approximately ten days after receipt. Multiple ticks from the same person can be tested as a single test. Simply place multiple ticks in a single zip-locked bag and indicate that they were on one person. If the tick was exposed to alcohol or other antibiotic agents, the tick must be tested using a DNA type procedure. The DNA test cost is $175.

As we have all learned, protecting oneself from tick bites is a serious matter in the prevention of Lyme disease. So, the next time you are walking at URWA’s Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve or someplace else, be sure to tuck in those trousers, roll up your socks, tie back your hair, don a hat and safely spray your clothes.






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