If you spend time outdoors or have pets that go outdoors, you need to beware of ticks. Ticks are small bloodsucking bugs. Many species transmit diseases to animals and people. Some of the diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.
Some ticks are so small that they can be difficult to see. Ticks may get on you if you walk through areas where they live, such as tall grass, leaf litter or shrubs.
Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should
- Use a chemical repellent with DEET, permethrin or picaridin
- Wear light-colored protective clothing
- Tuck pant legs into socks
- Avoid tick-infested areas
- Check yourself, your children and your pets daily for ticks and carefully remove any ticks you find
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Tick-Borne Diseases(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/705.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/705.printerview.html
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Tickborne Diseases
(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/tickborne/default.htm
- Tick Bites, First Aid(Logical Images) - http://www.visualdxhealth.com/firstaid/firstAidTickBites.htm
- Tick Bites: First Aid(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/first-aid-tick-bites/FA00062/METHOD=print
- Tick Removal: A Step-by-Step Guide(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/tick_removal.html
- Stop Ticks(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/Features/StopTicks/
- Anaplasmosis(American Lyme Disease Foundation) - http://www.aldf.com/Anaplasmosis.shtml
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Babesiosis(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/babesiosis/
- Colorado Tick Fever(American Lyme Disease Foundation) - http://www.aldf.com/CTF.shtml
- Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/cchf.htm
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Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/ehrlichiosisAnaplasmosis/
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Ehrlichiosis: A Disease from Ticks(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/056.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/056.printerview.html
- Q Fever(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/qfever/index.htm
- Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/stari/index.htm
- Tick Paralysis(American Lyme Disease Foundation) - http://www.aldf.com/TickParalysis.shtml
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Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/892.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/892.printerview.html
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Tularemia(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/tularemia/
- Outdoor Workers and Tick-Borne Diseases(National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) - http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/tick-borne/
- Life Cycles: Fleas and Ticks(Food and Drug Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/graphics/1996graphics/fleatick.pdf
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Tick-Borne Diseases(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Tick-Borne+Diseases%22
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Tularemia(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Tularemia%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Bilateral facial palsy in neuroborreliosis. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19364942&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Tick talk: unusually severe case of tick-borne relapsing fever with... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19099321&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Relative chemokine and adhesion molecule expression in Mediterranean spotted fever... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19091423&tool=MedlinePlus
- Tick Bites -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=ticks[mh]+AND+bites+and+stings[mh]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- American Lyme Disease Foundation - http://www.aldf.com/
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/
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National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
- Hey! A Tick Bit Me!(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/bugs/tick.html
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/rocky.html
- Tick Tactics(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bam.gov/sub_yoursafety/yoursafety_ticktactics.html
- Insect Bites and Stings - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/insectbitesandstings.html
- Lyme Disease - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lymedisease.html
- Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html
- Injuries and Wounds - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/injuriesandwounds.html
- Skin, Hair and Nails - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/skinhairandnails.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Tick Bites is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/