![]() To have a tick identified please visit eTick.ca for more information. Avoid crushing ticks with exposed fingers. Once removed, flush the tick down toilet, drown in rubbing alcohol or freeze in a plastic sealed bag prior to putting in the garbage. This will be important if you, or a loved one, begin to feel unwell. Make a note of the date and where on the body the bite occurred.Once the tick is removed, clean the area of the bite with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitizer.Gently and slowly pull the tick straight out of the skin.Carefully grasp the tick with tweezers – the pointier, the better - as close to the skin as possible.Put clean and dry outdoor clothes in a dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any remaining ticks.They can enter your home on your pet and move to you or another family member. Dogs can’t transmit tick-borne illnesses to people, but ticks are hitchhikers. If you have pets that spend time outside, make tick-checks part of your daily routine.If you see a tick, remove it safely (see below).Having a bath or shower within two hours of coming inside makes it easier to spot ticks and wash off unattached ticks.Check yourself and your family for ticks after being outside.Permethrin treated clothing repels and kills ticks when they come in contact with it and is now registered for use in Canada for those 16 years of age and older. Follow directions on the package carefully. Apply insect repellents containing DEET or Icaridin to exposed skin and clothes.Walk on well-travelled paths, avoiding long grass and vegetation.Wear enclosed shoes and tuck your pants into your socks. ![]() Wear light coloured clothing – its easier to see ticks.Wear long pants and long sleeves in areas likely to have ticks. ![]() Tick-borne illnesses are preventable by taking some simple precautions. They are very small, which makes them hard to spot and their bites don’t hurt, which makes it difficult to know when you’ve been bitten. Ticks like moist and humid environments and can be found in or near woods, shrubs, leaf litter, long grass, urban parks and gardens. ![]() There may have been other ticks attached to you, a family member, or pet that you did not find.Top to bottom: engorged female dog tick, engorged female black legged tick. Keep in mind that if you’ve removed one tick, you’ve obviously been in tick friendly habitat. Continue to monitor for symptoms after the removal of any tick. The longer a tick is attached, however, the greater the chance of pathogen transmission. Even if a submitted tick does test positive for a pathogen, there is no guarantee that the pathogen was passed on to the patient.Don’t wait for tick testing results to seek medical advice if symptoms develop. If you’ve removed an engorged tick, symptoms may begin even before the results of the tick analysis are available.If you remove a deer tick from yourself, family member, or pet, here are the steps to take to preserve and submit the tick for simple identification by your physician or vet, or for a complete pathogen analysis from an independent testing laboratory. You won’t be able to tell if a tick is infected by simple looking at it, whatever the size. In some tick endemic areas of the country, as many as 40-70% of deer ticks are infected with the Borrelia burgdorrifi spirochete, the Lyme disease bacteria. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |