CBC recently released this nice, detailed article on how to deal with ticks as the weather gets nice and you head outdoors. The article is covers a lot of common questions so I recommend reading the whole thing, but a summary is below:
So the weather’s ideal and you’re raring to enjoy the great outdoors — but you’re feeling fatigued, and you’re suffering from chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain. Maybe swollen lymph nodes, too.
Can’t figure out why you’re coming down with conditions you’d expect to feel in the winter?
Could be you’re in the early stages of Lyme disease — a condition first identified in the mid-1970s. The disease was named after the town where the first cases were diagnosed — Lyme, Conn. The illness is caused by the bite of two species of ticks — blacklegged ticks (sometimes called deer ticks) and western blacklegged ticks.
How do ticks pass on the disease?
Blacklegged ticks live for about two years. They have three feeding stages: larvae, nymph and adult. When a young tick feeds on an infected animal, it picks up a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It’s normally carried by mice, squirrels, birds and other small animals. The bacterium then lives in the gut of the tick. If you are the tick’s next meal after it’s ingested infected blood, you could show symptoms in three to 30 days
What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
The first sign that you may be infected is a circular rash surrounding the spot where the tick bit you. It’ll show up between three and 30 days after the tick helped itself to your blood. The rash may be followed by symptoms like fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain and swollen lymph nodes.
If left untreated, the disease can progress to a second phase, which can last several months. Symptoms in the second phase include migraines, weakness, multiple skin rashes, painful or stiff joints, abnormal heartbeat and extreme fatigue.
Still not seeking treatment? Well, it’s highly unlikely that you will die, but you may suffer symptoms such as chronic arthritis and neurological symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, numbness and paralysis.
How do I protect myself?
Make yourself a difficult meal for a tick.
Nova Scotia zoologist Andrew Hebda notes that ticks aren’t very active. They can’t leap at you as you walk by. But if you brush up against them, they can latch on to you. Hebda recommends that you stay on trails and avoid deep bush.
Health Canada offers several tips, including:
- If infected ticks are in your area, wear long-sleeved shirts that fit tightly around the wrist, and long-legged pants tucked into socks or boots. Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to see if there are any ticks on your clothes.
- Wear shoes that cover your entire foot – avoid sandals in areas where ticks might be.
- Use insect repellents that contain DEET to repel ticks. Repellents can be applied to clothing as well as exposed skin.
