Ticks can be a dangerous pest and spread diseases. They also have the potential to infest your home and cause discomfort to you and your family members.
To keep ticks away, you must make your outdoor spaces uninhabitable for them. That means clearing away weeds and brush, mowing your lawn short, and maintaining it regularly.
Tick Identification
Tick identification is important in combatting tick-borne diseases. If you’ve noticed a tick on yourself or your pet, make sure it is safely removed and placed in a crushproof container. Then fill out our Tick Identification Submission Form (PDF) with all pertinent details about what species of tick it is and any diseases it may carry; usually within two weeks you will receive confirmation on what these pests are.
Ticks are arachnids related to mites and spiders. They divide into three main families: Ixodidae, Argasidae and Nuttallellidae.
Hard ticks (Ixodidae) are the most prevalent tick species in North America. They feed off of a variety of prey including wild and domestic mammals, birds of prey, as well as humans.
Soft ticks (Argasidae) are more rare and less aggressive, though they still pose risks by transmitting diseases rapidly.
Ticks must parasitize and feed on a vertebrate host throughout each stage of their life cycle. A hard tick may take 24 years to mature from egg to adult, while soft ticks take 10 years or longer.
Tick Prevention
Tick prevention is an integral part of protecting yourself and your family from tick-borne diseases. This involves avoiding tick habitats, using personal protection methods and altering the environment to reduce tick activity.
Treat your clothing and outdoor gear with permethrin, an EPA-registered insect repellent that kills ticks on contact and offers protection through multiple washings. Permethrin can also be applied topically on skin as a topical repellent.
After spending time outdoors, make sure to check yourself, your children and pets for ticks – especially if you live in an area where ticks are commonly found. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to examine all areas of the body, paying special attention to those hard-to-reach places with your hands.
Bathe or shower as soon as you come indoors to wash away any ticks that have made their way onto you, your child, or pet. If hot water cannot be used, tumble dry wet or damp clothes on low heat for 70 minutes or high heat for 40 minutes in order to eliminate any ticks present.
Tick Removal
Ticks are small, insect-like creatures that live in grassy or brushy areas. When they attach themselves to you and feed on your blood, they can spread disease-causing germs through direct contact.
To prevent ticks, avoid walking through heavily wooded or brushy areas and apply an insect repellent with 20-30% DEET on both your skin and clothing. After returning home from your outdoor adventure, perform a full body tick check to ensure no ticks have attached themselves to you or your family members.
If you find a tick, use pointed-tip tweezers to carefully remove it. Be sure to disinfect these tools with rubbing alcohol prior to each use.
Tick-Borne Diseases
Ticks are the primary transmitters of various diseases that affect humans and animals alike, including:
Lyme disease, Powassan disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Heartland virus, Bourbon virus, Ehrlichiosis and Babesiosis are among the more serious illnesses that can impact humans.
These tick-borne diseases are spread through the bite of an infected tick. The ticks that carry these diseases typically feed on small wild rodents, deer, and other non-domesticated animals.
These diseases can have severe or even fatal outcomes if not addressed promptly. Common symptoms may include fatigue, body aches, flu-like symptoms, fever, headache and a rash around the tick bite known as bull’s-eye rash.
Many tick-borne diseases can manifest anywhere from days to months after a bite. Individuals who are older, have weakened immunity systems or are immunocompromised may be particularly vulnerable to these infections.