Deer Tick-Public Domain image
Camping
and hiking are high-risk activities for encountering ticks, so remember to pack
a straw and thread (or thin dental floss) next time you head into the woods(read
why, toward end of this article.
Ticks-Latin
Name (Common Name): Diseases they can transmit
Ixodes
scapularis (deer tick or black legged tick): Lyme, babesiosis, anaplasmosis,
Powassan encephalitis, tick paralysis, tularemia, Bartonella
Amblyomma
americanum (lone star tick): Human monocytic ehrlichiosis, STARI, tularemia,
tick paralysis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF)
Dermacentor
variabilis (American dog tick): RMSF, tularemia, human monocytic ehrlichiosis
Dermacentor
andersoni (wood tick): RMSF, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, tick paralysis, Q
fever
Ixodes
pacificus (western black legged tick): Lyme, babesiosis, anaplasmosis,
bartonella
Amblyomma
maculatum (Gulf Coast tick): Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis
Do
not EVER, ROTATE OR SQUEEZE the body of the tick.
Obviously,
the following tick removal methods are NOT recommended:
1. Gripping the tick with thumb
and forefinger and tugging at it. Doing so will cause the tick to regurgitate stomach
contents—BAD NEWS.
2. Rotating the body of the tick, IN
ANY WAY. Mouth parts have barbs which dig into flesh. Rotating the tick’s body,
in any way will simply twist it off, leaving the mouth parts imbedded and YOU
open to Lyme disease infection-BAD NEWS.
3. Burning the tick off with a
match or cigarette lighter,
4. “Suffocating” the tick with
petroleum jelly or hot oil
Avoid
methods 3 &4 for the same reasons that you now avoid methods 1&2.
The
safest rule as regards to how long it takes a tick to transmit a borreliosis to
YOU is, ‘the sooner YOU remove the tick the greater the chance of preventing
infection’. This is one reason why checking over your body carefully at the end
of a long walk in the woods, then showering using a facecloth and back scrubber
to scrub the body is usually sufficient to avoid infection even if the tick has
already attached because ticks can be brushed off easily if not yet fully
attached.
Even
Better Than Tick Removal Is; AVOID Them.
Do
Not Allow Ticks To Attach In The First Place.
Wearing
long pants and sleeves, and walking with a friend who can keep an eye on your
back means that you have time to see the tick and brush it off before it
attaches. Keep switching positions of who is in back if walking single file.
Look frequently for signs of ticks on you or your friend. If you find an
attached tick, remove the tick as completely and as quickly as possible.
Ticks
in the larval or nymphalid stage of development acquire the Lyme disease
bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) by feeding on the blood of an infected host. Although
we now know we not only have Borrelia burgdorferi in our ticks to cause
borreliosis (Lyme disease) in humans, we also have other strains and species
such as Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia hermsii, etch.
For
example, with the recently discovered Borrelia miyamotoi, the mother tick can
pass the infection to the egg which in turn can pass it to the larvae, on to
the nymph and adult. Larvae hatch in the thousands so if you encounter these
you may be at risk, and unfortunately they are not much bigger than the period
at the end of this sentence making them very hard to detect.
One
good thing is that, unlike mosquitoes (which can attach and begin feeding
within seconds of landing on you) ticks take much more time to crawl to a
suitable spot on your body, bite into your skin, secrete a ‘cement’ that
secures them in place, and begin feeding/salivation.
Now
though, we must revisit research done on Borrelia burgdorferi, to see if
species/strains such as Borrelia miyamotoi follow the same rules now that we
already know Borrelia miyamotoi broke the rule about mother tick not being able
to pass the bacteria to their eggs.
We
have to revisit everything such as, does it take hours before the tick can
transmit the disease to you, and if mosquitos can transmit it. Mosquitos have been shown to carry Borrelia
burgdorferi in their gut, but have not YET been shown to successfully transmit
it but does that hold true for all Borrelia species/strains.
Safe
tick removal methods
Method
1: If you already have a pair of fine pointed tweezers, and a steady hand, you
can grasp The Mouthparts Of The Tick, NOT the body of the tick, and Slowly Pull
The Tick Straight Out.
Remember
that the skin may be swollen around the site of the tick attachment so if
you’re not sure what you’re doing, you may prefer to use a specially designed
tool. Method 2:
Straw and Knot
The
‘straw and knot’ method is an elegant, easy, effective, low technology tick
removal method.Place
an ordinary drinking straw at a 45-degree angle over the tick. (The straw is
simply being used as a guide to direct the knot).Take a length of thread (or
dental floss) and tie a loose knot at the top or midsection of the straw.Slide
your knot down the straw to where the tick is attached.Position the knot
underneath the tick’s belly, so that the knot will encircle the Embedded
Mouthparts Only.SLOWLY, tighten the knot to close snugly around the mouthparts
of the tick.Remove the straw and pull the thread in a steady upward motion.
This
WILLNOT ONLY cause the tick to detach, but Should Also Inhibit Regurgitation Of
Bacteria That May Be In The Midgut.
Method
3: Intradermal Blister
If
you’re close to a doctor’s office:
A
doctor can inject Xylocaine into the skin below where the tick has attached.
A
large Xylocaine-filled blister will form.
After
tasting the Xylocaine, the tick should release its grip and back out on its own
in order to search for a ‘better-tasting’ host.
Tick
Treatment
After
a tick has been removed, it’s important to wash the bite site using soap and
water, followed with an antiseptic. Over-the-counter antiseptic medications are
available at any pharmacy.
Don’t
wait to develop symptoms. Go to your doctor and request antibiotics as a
precaution.~~Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan.
