Black Legged Ticks (AKA Deer Ticks), which were collected by Bureau County Health Department in between October of 2023 and April of 2024, were submitted to the CDC for pathogen testing. Thirty-eight percent of the adult ticks tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium which causes Lyme Disease. The ticks were also tested for other pathogens associated with Black Legged Ticks. One tick tested positive for Borrelia miyamotoi, the bacterium which causes Hard Tick Relapsing Fever. Statewide tick surveillance data may be viewed at https://arcg.is/15fDSO
Lyme Disease is the most common vector borne disease and is one of the most rapidly growing diseases in the United States. Lyme Disease is hard to diagnose for a few different reasons: It’s symptoms, such a fever, joint pain, and fatigue mimic other diseases and most patients never develop the telltale “bullseye rash” associated with the disease; Many patients do not develop a rash at all and tests for Lyme Disease also remain unreliable; Because ticks and their bites are small, especially nymph life-staged ticks, many people who contract a disease do not recall being bitten by a tick.
“The public is urged to take precautions to avoid tick bites during outdoor activities.” said Hector Gomez, Bureau, Putnam & Marshall County Health Department Administrator, “Ticks can transit several different diseases which can lead to serious illness, death, or life-long neurological conditions.”
Tips to Avoid Tick Bites
- Wear light colored clothing when outdoors so that ticks may be easily seen.
- Always check yourself thoroughly for ticks after outdoor activities such as hunting, gathering, hiking, and even gardening.
- Check children for ticks.
- Check your pets regularly for ticks.
- Apply Permethrin to outer clothing worn in tick habitats, especially shoes and pants as ticks are mostly found in leaf litter and on vegetation from the knee area and down. Permethrin has very low mammalian toxicity, but ticks exposed to Permethrin become incapacitated and eventually die.
- Tuck socks and pants into boots and long-sleeved shirts into pants. Ticks crawl up, not down, while looking for a place to attach. The longer they are on clothing, the greater your chances of finding them or the tick becoming incapacitated due to exposure to permethrin treated clothing.
- Placing clothing and gear in a dryer on high heat for at least 6 minutes immediately after returning from the outdoors will kill ticks.
- DEET insect repellent may be applied to skin as a secondary defense against tick bites.
- Walk in the center of trails to avoid leaf litter and vegetation which will harbor more ticks.
If You Find a Tick Attached to You
- Remove any attached ticks immediately. Use a fine tipped tweezer and grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible. Pull straight up with steady even pressure. Do not apply heat, Vaseline or use any other methods which can make the tick regurgitate disease carrying fluid into its host. Illustrated instructions can be found here.
- Seal the tick in a container and call Bureau, Putnam, and Marshall County Health Departments at 815 872-5091. We will want to identify the tick and discuss symptoms of disease that may appear.
People should familiarize themselves with the symptoms of tickborne disease and self-monitor for those symptoms after venturing into tick habitats. Early antibiotic treatment is key to avoiding severe outcomes and long-term complications.
