[ad_1]
Ticks, Lyme disease, and the other nasty illnesses we can get from a tick bite have been with us for years. Health agencies and organizations and many related businesses have spent millions educating us on the smallest details of ticks and the diseases they carry. But misconceptions about small parasitic arachnids persist.
Tick Ease Inc., maker of specialty tweezers, has created the following tick test to help spread the facts of the situation. Test your knowledge.
True or false? Ticks only bite in summer.
False. Ticks are active year round and are found in all 50 states. Nymphal ticks are more difficult to see and emerge in the spring and early summer. The cold does not kill them. They are mostly dormant but were seen in February thanks to global warming.
True or false? Ticks live in a wide variety of environments.
True. Ticks live in wooded areas, lawns, beach grasses, and other habitats.
True or false? You have to live near deer to find ticks.
False. Deer are not the only hosts for deer ticks. They feed on mice, birds, chipmunks, raccoons, squirrels, birds and even reptiles.
True or false? Ticks jump on their hosts from trees.
False. Ticks don’t jump or fly, but they climb trees and hide in the bark. They usually stay closer to the ground while waiting for prey, like you or your pet, to brush against them.
True or false? Not everyone feels a tick bite.
True. Less than 50 percent of Lyme disease patients remember being bitten. Ticks secrete a numbing agent before biting.
- Lyme disease found in nearly 40% of ticks in large study in Pennsylvania
True or false? Ticks can smell blood.
False. Ticks can detect carbon dioxide, ammonia in the sweat and heat of potential hosts, but not their blood, which is the target of a biting tick.
True or false? Ticks need to stay attached for 24 to 36 hours to transmit disease.
True and false. The length of time a tick stays attached before transmitting a disease depends on the tick species, the disease, the tick’s life stage, and the host’s response to the bite. For example, an infected tick can transmit the deadly Powassan virus within minutes. Bottom line: you want to get rid of a tick as quickly as possible.
True or false? Holding a match on the end of an encrusted tick is not an effective means of removal and can lead to complications.
True. Using a match to try to remove a tick is potentially dangerous and painful. Shaking the tick may put you at a higher risk of exposure. Other popular myths about removing ticks by smothering them with oil, butter, nail polish, nail polish remover, dish detergent, petroleum jelly, alcohol or aftershave all have the same risk as trying to burn them.
True or false? A tick head left under the skin can transmit disease even after the body has been removed.
False. Ticks do not have a head. The parts sometimes left after an attempted removal are the barbed mouthparts. Although they are not the part of the tick where the disease resides, leaving part of the arachnid embedded under the skin can cause inflammation and infection.
- Tick check: Protect yourself against Lyme disease via this new website
True or false? A tick that is removed from your body or your pet should not be flushed down the toilet or otherwise thrown away.
True. It is best to keep the tick so that it can be tested if necessary. It can also be helpful to know what type of tick has bitten you and what kind of pathogens or parasites it carries.
True or false? The characteristic rash does not always appear after a tick bite.
True. Less than 50 percent of Lyme disease patients experience a rash or rash at all. Rashes can present themselves in several ways. Some are red and some are pink. Some are large and spotted or spotted.
True or false? A negative blood test is the definitive proof that you have not been infected.
False. There is no completely reliable blood test for tick-borne diseases. This is why it is so important to be vigilant about looking for ticks and to eliminate them properly if you find one.
Contact Marcus Schneck at [email protected].
[ad_2]
Source link