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TICKS: Scourge of the Summer Woods
OR
Don’t be TICKELED to Death
Last week while accompanying my dad to look at some property in Arkansas I
was host to one of the many parasites that haunt our southern woods. After taking a walk
to examine a new fence someone had just strung across our property, we stopped by to
see the realtor who was handling it for us. While we were in conference I felt a tickle just
above my eyebrow and reached up to find a tick making its way across my forehead. I
laid the creature on a notepad and dispatched it my pocket knife. The realtor, noticing
my crude execution, commented about how bad the ticks were this year. “Fortunately,” I
replied, “this one didn’t get the chance to bite me.”
It’s a good thing too, just take a look at those tools in the picture. Those
impressive implements look like something a safecracker might have in his toolbox.
Called chelicera by taxonomists, these sucking mouthparts are found in all members of
the Subphylum Chelicerata, but those of the ticks are particularly formidable. Spiders,
scorpions, horseshoe crabs, mites and ticks are some of the more common members of
this animal taxon, but the ticks and mites belong to the order Acarina, and many are
parasitic on man, other animals and plants.
Usually the adult tick (which has 8 legs unlike its 6-legged larva) seeks a blood
meal just prior to reproduction, but only the female remains attached long enough to
engorge with the blood necessary to lay over a thousand eggs. She may increase in body
weight over 100 times. It’s during this time that the tick injects a special anti-coagulant
into the host’s tissues to prevent clotting. This is when disease transmission usually
occurs. Fortunately for me, the tick roaming across my forehead never got the chance to
dine.
According to the Lyme Disease Information Resource (http://www.lymenet.org)
there are seven pathogens that infect humans which may be acquired from a tick bite.
The disease, the agent, and the vector are listed here:
1. Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (a spirochete bacterium), Black-legged
deer tick
2. Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Rickettsia rickettsii, Dog ticks, Wood ticks
3. Ehrlichiosis (Spotless Rocky Mt. spotted fever), E. chaffeensis, Lone star tick
and Deer tick
4. Babesiosis, Babesia microti (Malaria-like protozoan), Deer tick
5. Tualremia (Rabbit fever), Francisella tularensis, Dog tick and Lonestar tick
6. Colorado tick fever, virus, Wood tick
7. Sporadic relapsing fever, Borerelia sp., Argasid or soft-bodied ticks
Fortunately most of these diseases are completely curable and rarely fatal. The
problem is that a correct diagnosis is often difficult. This is because the symptoms of
tick-borne diseases: fever, headache, chills, and nausea, are common to many other
ailments. However, if you do find a tick embedded in your skin, here is the proper
procedure for removal and treatment (taken from http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu).
Tick Removal
If a tick should become attached to you or your pet, remove it as soon as possible. Prompt
removal reduces the chance of infection by Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and
Lyme Disease (LD).
Shield your fingers with a paper towel, use tweezers or wear rubber gloves. Grasp the
tick close to the skin, and with steady pressure, pull straight out.
Do not twist or jerk the tick, as mouthparts may be left in the skin. Take care not to
crush or puncture the tick during removal.
Use of a hot match or cigarette to remove a tick is NOT recommended as this may
cause the tick to burst. Spotted fever may be acquired from infected tick body fluids that
come in contact with broken skin, the mouth, or eyes.
Avoid touching ticks with bare hands. Tick secretions can be infectious. Spotted fever
can be acquired through self-inoculation into a small scratch or cut.
After removing a tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash hands with soap and
water.
Ticks can be tested for RMSF and/or Lyme Disease. Contact the Vector-borne Disease
Program of the Ohio Department of Health, Telephone: 614-752-1029, Fax-614-7521391. Place the tick in a small jar or ziplock plastic bag, along with a few blades of green
grass (to provide moisture). Store the tick in a cool place until it can be delivered.
Ticks can be safely disposed of by placing them in a container of oil or alcohol,
sticking them to tape, or flushing them in the toilet.