Creepy, Crawly, Disease-Ridden Ticks

Don’t be fooled by ongoing spring snowstorms and cooler temperatures — it’s tick season.

Dr. Thomas Mather, who runs the TickEncounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island, told LifeZette the winter in the East was relatively mild — so tick season has arrived early.

“People have been seeing ticks all winter,” he said, adding these pests are usually frozen in the ground until about April 1. “On any one day, people can expect to see ticks.”

“Things have gotten going a little bit sooner [this year],” he said.

Mather’s TickSpotters program encourages people to report tick sightings. It also allows them to submit pictures and connect with an expert to identify the type of tick — and risk to their health.

There aren’t necessarily more ticks, he noted.

But they have been emerging sooner in the season at a time when we otherwise wouldn’t have expected to see them.

“We are still in a trend, I believe, of more ticks in more places,” Mather said.

“They are already out and just going to increase in numbers as April and May wear on,” he added.

So Where are These Awful Critters?
Dr. Rebecca Eisen, a research biologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, recently did a survey on the geographic distribution of ticks. It was published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

Deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks or bear ticks, have been reported in more than 45 percent of U.S. counties, compared to 30 percent of counties in 1998. The deer tick is now established in twice the number of counties as it was back in 1998. Deer ticks are the common transmitters of Lyme disease.

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Most of the geographic expansion of deer ticks seems to be in the northern U.S., while populations in the South have remained relatively stable. The range of the western deer ticks increased from 3.4 percent to 3.6 percent of counties. Lyme disease affects about 300,000 people annually in the U.S.

“This study shows that the distribution of Lyme disease vectors has changed substantially over the last nearly-two decades and highlights areas where risk for human exposure to ticks has changed during that time,” Dr. Eisen said in a statement. “The observed range expansion of the ticks highlights a need for continuing and enhancing vector surveillance efforts, particularly along the leading edges of range expansion.”

Avoiding Ticks
In addition to treating pets directly as well as spraying your yard, Mather recommends people wear long clothes when outside and tuck in their shirts. Check yourself when you come inside to see if any ticks are on you.

“The more the ticks are out, the more that people encounter them,” he said.

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If Lyme disease is caught early, patients usually respond well to antibiotics and recover quickly. However, it’s not always caught early — and about 10 to 20 percent of infected patients are later diagnosed with post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. The syndrome can be devastating, causing additional health issues such as arthritis, muscle pain, fatigue and neurological problems.

In recent years, many people try to use products that are more natural, but Mather said that’s not a good idea. Products with cedar oil are mostly ineffective, he said.

“There’s a trend that people who want to have minimal risk use natural products,” he said. “They’re not all they’re cracked up to be. It turns out they’re not all that effective at killing ticks.”

Instead, use products that have synthetic pyrethroids such as permethrin, which are very effective in killing deer ticks.

Deer ticks are commonly found in shady areas — while Lonestar and American Dog Ticks tend to venture out more into yards.