Ticks and their Diseases

One parasite that has earned a particularly formidable reputation is the deer tick, also known as the blacklegged tick, and this is mostly due to its ability to transmit Lyme disease. Blacklegged ticks are common throughout the eastern United States, including the Mid-Atlantic, and can transmit Lyme disease as well as several other tickborne illnesses.

The Deer Tick Life Cycle

These pests live in four stages – egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Both nymphs and adult female blacklegged ticks can transmit the bacteria that cause Lyme disease to humans. Nymphs are particularly difficult to detect because of their extremely small size.

As a nymph, a tick can be about as tiny as a poppy seed and therefore very difficult to detect on one’s body, especially on the scalp or other areas covered by hair. This makes thorough tick checks particularly important after spending time outdoors.

Adult female ticks feed on a host before eventually laying their eggs. Blacklegged ticks typically live in wooded, brushy, and grassy environments and are often found in or near leaf litter, where humidity helps protect them from drying out. Therefore, it is important to be especially careful when walking through wooded areas, tall grass, brush, and fallen leaves.

Children should also be checked carefully for ticks after playing outdoors. Pay particular attention to areas such as the scalp and hairline, around the ears, under the arms, behind the knees, around the waist, and between the legs.

Ticks may also climb onto vegetation and wait for a person or animal to brush against them, a behavior known as “questing.”

How to Remove a Tick Safely

Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible. Pull upward using steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick, as this can cause its mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin.

After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with soap and water, rubbing alcohol, or hand sanitizer. Do not use petroleum jelly, heat, nail polish, or similar methods to try to force an attached tick to release.

If the tick’s mouthparts break off and cannot easily be removed with tweezers, they can generally be left alone while the skin heals.

How Long Does a Tick Need to Be Attached to Transmit Lyme Disease?

In most cases, an infected blacklegged tick must be attached for more than 24 hours before the bacteria that cause Lyme disease are transmitted. Prompt removal can therefore greatly reduce the risk of Lyme disease. However, because ticks can transmit illnesses other than Lyme disease, attached ticks should always be removed as soon as they are discovered.

Lyme disease is a serious condition that requires managing with treatment. It is unclear whether Lyme disease is curable, but a diagnosed patient must continue monitoring and controlling the condition until symptoms are eliminated. That being said, Lyme disease has often proven very difficult to diagnose, and some experts have concluded that ultimately only one out of every ten cases gets reported. This is due to the fact that the disease often very closely mimics the flu. In addition, symptoms often very greatly from case to case, with some patients suffering with what seems like Alzheimer’s, while others show signs likened to muscular dystrophy. Still other patients display symptoms that resemble many other diseases. In some patients who have become symptom-free with prolonged treatment, relapses have occurred, requiring resumed treatment. The deer tick has also been linked to a number of other diseases, including Barton Ella, Babesia, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

American Dog Ticks

Another type of tick to try to avoid in the eastern United States is the American dog tick. Although not a carrying agent for Lyme disease, this pest has been linked to a number of other diseases, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and tularemia. Dog ticks have a hard shell with a pattern of brown shapes along their backs. If you or a loved one finds a dog tick or a deer tick attached to the body, it is recommended that you keep the culprit in a container with alcohol after removal so as to preserve it. This is in order so that the guilty tick can be tested for carrying certain diseases should the bite victim become symptomatic within about a month, thereby making diagnosis easier.

How to Reduce Ticks Around Your Maryland Property

Preventing tick bites starts with reducing opportunities for people and pets to encounter ticks. Ticks commonly occur in wooded, brushy, and grassy areas and around leaf litter, so keeping frequently used portions of the yard maintained can help reduce potential tick habitat.

Homeowners can also reduce their risk by keeping leaves and yard debris under control, maintaining lawns, limiting dense vegetation around high-use areas, checking children and pets after outdoor activities, and performing full-body tick checks after spending time in potential tick habitat.

EPA-registered insect repellents can provide additional protection when spending time outdoors. Clothing and gear treated with 0.5% permethrin can also help prevent tick bites when used according to product directions.

Professional Tick Control in Maryland

Brody Brothers Quality Pest Control has decades of experience treating and controlling tick populations using effective pest-management practices and a team of trained and knowledgeable technicians. We make child and pet safety a priority when developing treatment plans.

Professional tick control can help reduce tick populations around your property, particularly in areas where yards border woods, brush, tall vegetation, or other favorable tick habitat.

If ticks have become a concern around your Maryland home, contact Brody Brothers Quality Pest Control to learn more about tick-control options and ways to make your property less hospitable to ticks.