2024’s Worst States for Tick-Borne Illnesses

What are three misconceptions about ticks?

1. “They don’t have ticks here.” Ticks can live in more areas than you think, so it’s best to be aware.

2. “Ticks fly and/or climb trees.” If you find a tick on your head, it probably climbed there.

3. “It’s winter, we don’t have to worry about ticks.” Even in winter, when it gets a bit warmer the ticks will emerge and they will be hungry

What are three of the best ways to prevent tick bites?

1. Cover up: long sleeves, pants tucked into socks

2. Use products: permethrin spray for your clothes and repellant spray for your body.

3. Avoidance. Stay away from high-risk areas, like long grass and unmanaged understory and shrubs.

What are your best three tips for protecting pets and kids from tick bites?

1. Regular tick checks every time they’ve been in a high-risk area

2. Use the appropriate products

3. All the tips above

What should you do if you are bitten by a tick?

• Remove the tick by grasping it as close to the head as possible with tweezers and pulling it straight out.
• Look for others. Do a thorough tick check, and be sure to check your crevices.
• Either save the tick (put it in the freezer in a sealed bag with a damp paper towel) or take a picture and dispose of it safely (crushing with your boot or flushing).
• Watch for symptoms — rash, fever, muscle or joint pain, or headache. If you start to experience these symptoms, see your medical provider and tell them about the tick bite.

What should you do if your pet is bitten by a tick?

• Same as above for people

What three common locations are most notorious for harboring ticks?

1. Edges of wooded areas and pathways.

2. Long grass.

3. The understory of woodlands.

What are three misconceptions about ticks?

There are so many. I will note that most of what I hear is predominantly pertaining to blacklegged ticks, as they are the primary species of concern.

With that in mind, some of the top ones are that they drop down from trees, which is incorrect. They reside in the leaf litter and shrubby understory layers of woodland habitats.

Another misconception is that any bite will result in contracting Lyme disease. Most of the pathogens contained within the tick midgut need 24-48 hours to transfer through the bite, which means if you remove them early enough you should be in the clear. You can usually tell if they have been on long enough if they are engorged. If they are still flat, they most likely have not had enough time to transfer those pathogens. You can always send them into our tick testing laboratories though!

The only exception to the 24–48 hour rule is Powassan virus, which is in the tick mouthparts and can be transferred in 15 minutes. That being said, we have detected the virus in less than 1% of our collected ticks.

And I think the final misconception I will mention is that you can only pick up ticks if you are out in the woods. Most people pick them up in the peridomestic habitat, the area surrounding their residential properties.

What are three of the best ways to prevent tick bites?

1. The best prevention strategy is checking yourself regularly for ticks. They like to prioritize areas such as behind the knees, groin, or armpits. However, I also commonly find them around the belt line or under hair. By consistently checking for ticks, you are more apt to remove them before they have had time to feed and transfer pathogens.

2. The second would be to check and treat your outdoor pets. I grew up with plenty of outdoor dogs and cats that would come in inundated with ticks and even if they are treated there are always a couple that crawl on their coats and end up in the house.

3. And then my final suggestion would be to focus on your clothes. I always wear treated socks as this is the “point of entry” for most ticks. I have colleagues who always tuck their pants into their socks. We also recommend wearing lighter color clothing so you can more readily spot ticks on your pants and shirts. And when you come home, take all your clothes and chuck them into the dryer on high heat. This will desiccate any hitchhikers you may have picked up.

What are your best three tips for protecting pets and kids from tick bites?

1. Same as above: check them both thoroughly. You do not need any fancy devices to do a thorough check and remove any crawling or embedded ticks. When you are switching your kids into their pajamas or getting them ready to jump in the tub, these are great times to do a thorough tick check.

2. I also have been teaching my son to check himself. Start early!

3. And then I also suggest treating your pets with appropriate medications.

What should you do if you are bitten by a tick?

Remove the tick immediately. You can use your nails or a set of tweezers, but you should try to grasp them as close to the top of their head as possible so that it doesn’t stay embedded when you remove them.

Check the engorgement status. If they are swollen/engorged, then they may have had time to transfer their pathogens. You can have them tested at CAES.

You should also just be aware and take note of any symptoms that may occur after the bite.

What should you do if your pet is bitten by a tick?

Once again, remove the tick while grasping the head so that you do not leave any part still embedded. Pay attention to the development of any symptoms.

Anytime my dogs started paying extra attention to their joints i.e. licking, gnawing, limping, etc. I would take them in to get tested and treated.

What three common locations are most notorious for harboring ticks?

In the environment: leaf litter, under Japanese barberry or shrubby dense understories, around stone walls (usually in the woods).

What are three misconceptions about ticks?

1. That they are always deadly.

They can indeed transmit burdensome infections, but the vast majority of tick bites do not cause infection. It should be noted that bee stings kill more people each year than tick-transmitted diseases.

2. That there is nothing you can do to prevent tick bites, so you might as well stay inside with your shades drawn.

Mosquito repellents will work — apply as directed by the label to your bare legs and feet, also arms if you are gardening. Permethrin-treated clothing is the most effective way to prevent tick bites — permethrin is extremely safe. Head louse shampoo for toddlers has a greater concentration of permethrin and is FDA-approved to leave on a child’s head for many minutes. American military uniforms have been treated with permethrin for 20 years.

3. That ticks are only found in the woods or fields, so you only have to take precautions when you are hiking.

Ticks may be found around yards, in “green” areas within cities, and wherever wildlife is present. If you have seen ticks in the area, or people in your neighborhood have seen them, then you should use repellent or permethrin-treated clothing when you are going to step where there is leaf litter or brush. We need to promote the routine use of repellent, just like we have our children wear helmets when they ride their bicycles.

What are three of the best ways to prevent tick bites?

1. Awareness

2. Repellent

3. Permethrin-treated clothing

What are your best three tips for protecting pets and kids from tick bites?

There are, ironically, more options to protect dogs from tick bites than for children. Topical treatments, pills, permethrin-treated collars, and bandannas — these all help reduce tick bites on pets. Cats should not be outside due to their wanton destruction of birds. It should be noted that dogs can bring ticks into the home where they may attach to people — this is why permethrin-treated collars or bandannas might be useful because the ticks die quickly.

Children should get into the habit of a quick spray of repellent when they go outside. This also helps protect against mosquito bites and the potential for mosquito-borne disease. Children should be aware that if they chase a ball into the woods, they may encounter ticks.

What should you do if you are bitten by a tick?

Remove it as quickly as possible. Just pull it out. No need for fancy tools. A good pair of tweezers helps but fingernails work too.

It does not matter if you leave the “head” in, it is just like a splinter and will work itself out or will be walled off as a foreign body. Disinfect the site of the bite with an alcohol wipe.

Watch carefully for an expanding rash, or any unexplained fever within the next 3 weeks, and seek medical attention promptly if either is noted. Remember that the vast majority of tick bites are not infectious, and simply finding a tick on you does not merit going to the emergency room. it does mean, however, that you need to up your game in trying to prevent tick bites.

What should you do if your pet is bitten by a tick?

Just pull it out. As with people, watch for signs of illness.

What three common locations are most notorious for harboring ticks?

1. Your own backyard.

2. Woods with lots of leaf litter.

3. Where you see lots of deer, which provide the blood needed for a female tick to produce eggs. A fed deer tick female can produce 2000 eggs. A fed lone star tick female can produce 3500 eggs. A deer can have as many as 100 feeding females on it each week for 16 weeks of the adult tick season. That means a single deer can produce over 3 million baby ticks (larvae).