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Tick Bites

From:

Winger West

Reply-To:

Winger West

Date:

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:19:17 -0400

Tick Bites

It’s tick season again.  After birding yesterday, I found two ticks on me
when I got home.  Just as a reminder, here’s some advice (paraphrased) I
found in a handout from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and in the AMA’s
Family Medical Guide:

Ticks are parasites that feed on blood and are potentially dangerous
because of the infections that may be transmitted to you by a tick such as
Lyme's Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and encephalitis.  The tick
embeds its head into your skin, then swells as it feeds, sometimes to
several times its original size.  The skin around the bite hardens into a
lump surrounded by a red halo that increases in size. If the tick was not
infected and you’ve successfully removed it, things should clear up after
a few days.

However, if you were unlucky enough to have been bitten by a tick infected
with spirochetes, the center of the spot returns to normal color after a
day or two so the skin now has the appearance of a bull’s eye on an
archery target.  Then more red spots appear and you may have a headache,
fever, swollen lymph glands and pain in the joints and muscles.  You feel
weak and ill, like the flu.  Obviously, if you have not already done so,
you need to see a doctor who will likely prescribe antibiotics to clear
things up.  If left untreated, the disease can affect your heart and
nervous system.

How does one correctly remove a tick?  Do NOT use gasoline, kerosene,
fingernail polish, polish remover, butter or glowing matches.  These
methods only aggravate your skin further and can cause the tick to
disgorge its stomach contents which may contain spirochetes if the tick is
infected.  The approved method is to remove the tick as quickly as
possible with tweezers.  The idea is to grasp the tick as close as
possible to the skin and slowly pull it away from the skin.  Be careful
not to grasp the tick by its abdomen as you will force the contents of its
digestive system to be injected into your body like a syringe.

After removing the tick, treat the area with alcohol or iodine.  Try not
to handle the tick with your fingers as the spirochetes may still infect
you through tiny breaks in your fingers.

To prevent being bitten by a tick, wear light colored clothing to make it
easier to see and remove them.  Wear a hat, long sleeved shirt and long
pants tucked into your socks.  Check yourself (and others) often for ticks
and remove them immediately.  Use tick repellents (should contain DEET or
permethrin).  Ticks must be attached to you for several hours before they
can transmit diseases.  So, check yourself often as you bird and
especially when you get home and take a shower or bath.

Happy Birding (minus ticks!)

Winger West
Millersville, MD