Let the Tick Season Begin!

I don't know about you, but we have already had ticks in our house in 2013 ~ one on the dog on January 15 and one on me two weeks ago. Thankfully, the dog had one walking on her neck hair and it was easily removed. Mine....well, I had to take a large dose of doxycyclene (is that how you spell it?!) due to the positive identification as a deer tick.

To check the type of tick you see/have/remove, please check out this website http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_identification. It was sent out from our Fairfax County Extension Agent recently. If you do find and carefully remove a tick from you or another person, SAVE the tick in a sealed plastic bag with a bit of alcohol. You can then take it to a professional for a positive identification, if the link above does not solve the mystery for you.

Please remember: if your pet has been treated with a tick repellent, the ticks will not attach. BUT, they can bring them into your house where they could attach to a human or another pet.

So, it is easy to keep your animals protected, but what about us humans?

Other than being very vigilant, there are a few preventative methods for us to use that prevent ticks from attaching to our skin. I did a bit of research and see that Neem Oil appears to be a repellent for humans and animals. Here is an article that might be of interest, http://www.ehow.com/how_5375514_make-tick-repellent.html. It can be irritating on your skin, so use sparingly at first if you do try it.

Apparently, using some commercial bug repellents on your skin and clothing will also repel ticks, though I am not sure they are labeled as such. You can also wear full clothing on your arms and legs, inspect yourself at the end of a walk outside.

There seems to be an increase in Lyme Disease, a tick borne disease, around the Northern Virginia area. The information below is from a Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lyme disease is spread by the bite of ticks of the genus Ixodes that are
infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. The deer (or bear) tick, Ixodes dammini, which normally feeds on the white-footed mouse, the white-tailed deer, other mammals, and birds, is responsible for transmitting Lyme disease bacteria to humans in the northeastern and north-central United States. (In these regions, this tick is also responsible for the spreading of babesiosis, a disease caused by a malaria-like parasite.)

Ticks can attach to any part of the human body but often attach to the more hidden and hairy areas such as the groin, armpits, and scalp.

Research in the eastern United States has indicated that, for the most part, ticks transmit Lyme disease to humans during the nymph stage, probably because nymphs are more likely to feed on a person and are rarely noticed because of their small size (less than 2 mm). Thus, the nymphs typically have ample time to feed and transmit the infection (ticks are most likely to transmit infection after approximately 2 or more days of feeding).

In addition to Lyme Disease, there appears to be a new tick borne disease discovered in the last year. Please check this article for more information: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/01/16/new-illness-transmitted-same-tick-that-carries-lyme-discovered-northeast/zL4XJYaJWgRuXnN911qYdP/story.html.

Looking at pictures of ticks to post here, just turned my stomach! ICK! Just stay away, that is all I ask!!

Even though ticks are all over in the outdoors, this will not keep me from being out there to enjoy the good weather! I hope that I don't have any more in this house this year though! I will try just about anything to not get another one! I wish we had monthly treatments, just like our dogs do!!