Ticks and Lyme disease

Ticks are related to spiders. Like the Kissing Bug, they suck blood, and many carry diseases such as Lyme disease which is caused by a bacterium and usually caught from bites of the deer tick or the blacklegged tick ( Ixodes scapularis )

Life Cycle of the Blacklegged Tick

Adult female Blacklegged Ticks lay eggs in spring which hatch into larvae that suck the blood of many small mammals. After their blood meal these larvae drop to the ground where they overwinter. Next spring they feed again, drop to the ground again, and then turn into adults in October. The adult female ticks feed on large mammals like deer, where they gorge themselves on blood ready for next spring. (Birds also help spread the disease.)

Humans usually come into contact with blacklegged ticks during the summer when there are many young ticks about, and it is the young that are probably responsible for most human cases of Lyme disease. The bites look and feel very much like mosquito bites.

Lyme disease

Lyme disease is the fastest-growing infectious disease in the United States. It is a bacterial infection caused by a spirochete, normally Borrelia burgdorferi in the US. The disease is named after Old Lyme, Connecticut where it was identified in 1975. It has now been reported in 49 of 50 states in the U.S, and on every continent except Antarctica.

The first sign of the disease is usually a rash and flu-like symptoms. If diagnosed early it can be treated successfully, but delay often leads to late stage Lyme that is very difficult to treat. People have died from it, including Scott Brazil and Diane Varsi.

Avoiding Lyme Disease

It is important to realise that there is no single species of mammal associated with hosting Lyme disease. Many small mammals, as well as Deer and Humans (but not usually dogs)can carry the bacterium. Wild plans to ‘get rid of’ Deer will do no good, and might even make the situation worse. The only way to avoid the disease is to remove ticks as soon as you notice them biting you, and beware because most people who develop Lyme disease in North America catch it from ticks in their own yards (which have probably never seen a deer).

Removal of ticks

Ticks should always be removed using tweezers and a straight pull. Twisting them or burning them with a cigarette will only make them regurgitate blood and increase the risk of infection. Once removed the area should be disinfected, and if the head was left in then a Doctor or Veterinarian should be consulted (depending on the species bitten of course!).

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