Ticks and Lyme disease emerge for 2024 season: How to protect yourself from bites
If you haven't made checking yourself and your pets for ticks part of your normal routine, now is probably the time.
In 2010, there were 37 cases of Lyme disease in Ohio. By 2023, there were 1,298, a 35-fold increase, according to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
The disease, which is normally mild and treatable by antibiotics, has left some Ohioans chronically ill.
And 2024's tick season has already begun, and avoiding them requires vigilance. Here's what you need to know about the blood-sucking arthropods and how to avoid them.
Where do ticks live?
Ticks are "very common" in central Ohio, Ohio State University assistant professor Tim McDermott said.
The tick that causes Lyme disease, the blacklegged tick, prefers to live in the woods. But other tick species that spread diseases, like the American Dog tick or the Gulf Coast tick, could live in pastures, meadows or even in your backyard lawn grass, McDermott said.
In 2023, ODH collected 54 blacklegged ticks carrying Lyme disease, one tick carrying anaplasmosis, and two ticks carrying babesiosis in Franklin county.
Anaplasmosis is an uncommon bacterial infection spread by ticks that can cause flu-like symptoms and babesiosis is a rare disease caused by a parasite spread by ticks that can also cause flu-like symptoms. Both diseases can become severe or life-threatening.
ODH also identified one Lone Star tick carrying ehrlichiosis in Franklin county. Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial infection spread by ticks that also causes flu-like symptoms.
Ticks continue to expand into new areas, increasing the chances of an Ohioan encountering one, McDermott said.
"They can feed on deer that will move around," he said. "There's several types of ticks that will attach and feed on birds and they might be carried by a bird over distances before they would fall off and mature through their lifecycle."
When are ticks active?
Tick activity peaks from April to September, but they can be active all year round, McDermott said.
"You have a chance of encountering a tick on almost any given day of the year in Ohio," he said.
What type of ticks live in Ohio?
There are around a dozen species of ticks in the state, but only three species are likely to be encountered by people, according to ODH. They are:
The American Dog tick, which spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia and live in grassy fields, clearings, and other areas.
The blacklegged tick which spread Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus disease and live in wooded and brushy areas.
The Lone Star tick which spread ehrlichiosis and live in woodlands with "plenty of undergrowth"
Tick nymphs, which can be about the size of a poppy seed, are particularly difficult to spot, McDermott said.
How do you prevent tick bites?
McDermott had a few recommendations for Ohioans looking to prevent tick bites.
Be aware of tick habitats
Wear permethrin (a pesticide) treated clothes, long pants, and light-colored clothes to spot ticks
Apply insect repellents to your skin
The Ohio Department of Health also recommends:
Walking in the middle of trails, avoiding tall grass, brush and leaf litter
Wearing long sleeves and long socks, and tucking long pants into socks
Checking your body for ticks after being outside, removing any you find and showering
Continuous checking for ticks for 2 to 3 days after being outside in tick-infested areas
Watching for flu-like symptoms
For pets, McDermott recommended speaking with your veterinarian to find the best prevention product.
What is Lyme disease? What are its symptoms?
Lyme disease is caused by the borrelia bacteria spread by infected blacklegged ticks, according to the CDC.
The most common symptom found in 70 to 80% of cases is an expanding rash that may be warm to the touch. The rash is commonly known as a "bull's-eye" rash because it can clear up as it spreads, creating red splotches resembling a bull's-eye, but it doesn't always look like that, according to the CDC.
Lyme disease can also cause fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes, according to the CDC.
Lyme disease left untreated for a month or more could cause a range of more severe symptoms like facial palsy or nerve pain.
The good news is that people treated with antibiotics near the onset of the disease often recover "rapidly and completely", according to the CDC. Even people with more chronic Lyme disease respond well to the drugs, but serious damage to the nervous system or joints could persist.
OSU has a site dedicated to identifying bug bites available here.
What do you do if you find a tick on you?
McDermott recommends using tweezers or a specialized tick removal tool to get them off.
"You got to get all the way down to the embedded mouth part. And then you pull straight up making sure you get all parts of the tick," he said.
Using the wrong device or just yanking at the tick could leave its head behind, which could cause a medical problem, or you could rip the "butt" of the tick off, increasing your risk of catching a disease, McDermott said.
Once the tick is completely removed, he recommends putting the tick in a Ziploc bag with some hand sanitizer and contacting your local public health office to send it to them. They'll pass the tick onto ODH, who will test it for diseases.
You should also contact your doctor if you find a tick on you and you live in a tick-heavy area, McDermott said.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tick season 2024 is here. Here's what you need to know to avoid them
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