5 Commonly Asked Questions About Ticks

Ticks can spread serious illnesses. They can make you and your family quite sick. People can get ticks when they spend time outside. They are more common in wooded areas, but they can also be found in the suburbs and in the city in parks or yards. They will feed on animals that run through the yard and they can put your family at risk. Preventative measures include performing a tick control treatment throughout your property, but you should also understand how to deal with ticks when you find one on your family or pets.

How Do I Remove a Tick?

The best way to remove a tick is to grasp it with tweezers and to pull straight back to remove it. You do not want to twist as this may leave the head embedded in the skin. You can also use a tick key to remove the tick. You should never try to remove it by burning it, or applying gasoline, rubbing alcohol or Vaseline to it, as this may cause it to regurgitate and increase the chance of being infected.

How Do I Tell that a Tick Has Attached to Me?

Tick bites are painless, at least while the tick is attached. It is possible to have a tick attach and detach without you realizing that you have a tick. It is important to check yourself after you are in an area that has a lot of ticks. You need to check under your arms, along your hairline, in your ears, behind your knees and between your legs for ticks.

What Do I Do Once I’ve Removed the Tick?

Once you remove the tick you should put it on a cotton ball that has alcohol on it and seal it in a zipper bag. You can dispose of it this way. You should not just let it go because it can attach to someone else. You should not crush it with your hand or fingers because you may end up contracting the illness.

How Soon Will Tick Symptoms Appear?

Tick-borne illnesses can have symptoms start about three days after the bite, but they can take up to thirty days to appear. Many of the symptoms are similar with the start of a fever, and aches and pains. Some illnesses will have a rash, but the rash does not always present. The doctor can run tests to confirm the type of illnesses and determine the correct course of treatment. Most illnesses need to be treated with antibiotics or they will continue to get worse and can have serious complications that can even be fatal.

Do Ticks Detach by Themselves?

Once ticks have finished feeding, they will detach and then wander around until they are ready to feed again. This means that they may live in your home and be waiting until they are ready to feed again. If you see a tick in your home you need to take care of it right away.

Comments

Can Tick Bites Really Cause an Allergy to Meat?

In the past few years there have been increasing reports of people developing allergies to meat after being bitten by a tick. This is formerly called an Alpha Gel allergy. Researchers in Virginia were among the first to discover it through clinical trials for a medication. Some patients were having a reaction to one component in the medication and would have similar allergic reactions to red meat or meat from mammals. Some people even have reactions to dairy products. What Tick Causes the Allergic Reaction? The Lone Star tick is the only tick that is currently known to spread the allergy to meat. The ticks are common in areas with high deer populations, since the Lone Star tick prefers to feed on the deer. You can identify a tick by looking at its back for a white dot in the center. If you find a tick attached to you, you will need to remove it right away, and then watch for symptoms. How Can I Tell if I Have an Allergy to Meat? The symptoms for the meat allergy will build over time....

Florence brings Flooding and Mosquitoes to PWC

As the remnants of Hurricane Florence have pushed farther north and west of the eastern seaboard, heavy rains have inundated areas of northern Virginia and caused flooding as far north as DC . Not only did the areas around the floodplains get a major increase in flooding, but the ground in general became heavily saturated with rainwater, thus providing a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes to lay eggs and increase their number. Mosquito Breeding in Wet Yard Areas Mosquitoes will typically lay their eggs in areas where rainwater collects naturally, such as in ponds and along the banks of rivers and streams, but with all the rain that Florence brought to Prince William County quite a few homeowners have noticed that mosquito populations have increased dramatically since the storm. This is because the mosquitoes can now easily lay their eggs in just about any location where there is still water pooling from the rains, and until the ground is fully dry this will continue unless action ...

Will the East Asian Tick Spread to the Arlington Area This Year?

The East Asian tick has made the news in the last few days because it is a new tick species that was identified as being in the United States this year. It was first identified last fall, but efforts were made to eradicate it. Unfortunately, scientists have determined that those efforts did not work, and the species has been established in New Jersey. Why Are People Concerned About the East Asian Tick? It is an extremely invasive species that originated in Asia. When it first spread to Australia it causes significant problems for farmers there. The ticks are often found around farms animals, but they can also be found on large animals like deer. The East Asian tick does carry the SFTS virus, which is a new virus that was first discovered in 2009. It has potential for serious complications and scientists worry about a potential outbreak. How Does the East Asian Tick Spread? The experts are not sure how the East Asian tick made its way to the United States. However, once it is...

Mosquito Tek

Search This Blog