Ticks and Lyme Disease

Ticks probably spread more different diseases to humans and domestic animals than any other pest. The tick's bite is relatively painless, but the real dangers are in the viruses and bacteria the tick may transfer.

One disease often spread by deer ticks is Lyme disease, an infection that can affect the skin, joints, brain, heart and other organs. More than 20,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lyme disease takes its name from the town in Connecticut where it was first diagnosed.

Overlooked symptoms

It is easy to overlook the early symptoms. One of the initial symptoms may be a bull's-eye rash around the bite that appears three to 30 days after the bite. The rash, which can last three to five weeks, usually is not painful or itchy. About half the individuals with the bull’s-eye rash may develop more skin lesions of similar appearance during or after the initial rash. Flu-like symptoms -- fatigue, headaches, chills, joint and muscle aches, and a low-grade fever -- may occur at this time. Because many of these symptoms are common to other infections, Lyme disease sometimes is difficult to diagn ose.

Surprisingly, a dentist may diagnose Lyme disease from mouth symptoms. In one study, about 70 percent of people with Lyme reported pain in their teeth, chewing muscles and jaw joints, and dental pain that tended to move from tooth to tooth.

If found in its early stages, Lyme disease almost always can be treated successfully with antibiotics.

Bugs away!

Take these precautions when you are in woodsy areas and the temperature is over 40 degrees:

• Check your skin, including the scalp, for ticks twice a day. Deer ticks can be as small as a poppy seed or up to the size of a sesame seed.

• Wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, shoes and socks. Wearing light-colored clothing can help you spot a tick more easily.

• Tuck your shirt into your pants and your pant legs into your shoes or boots to prevent ticks from attaching themselves to your skin.

• Spray clothes with repellents containing DEET or permethrin. Permethrin is primarily an insecticide for use on clothes not on skin, but it is also a repellant and one of the best against ticks. It doesn't work as effectively as DEET against mosquitoes. A combination of DEET and permethrin works well. Follow directions with care.

If you do find a tick, remember that not all ticks carry infection. It takes 36 to 48 hours for an infected tick to begin transmitting the disease. If you remove the tick within 24 hours, your chances of getting Lyme disease are greatly reduced. After you remove the tick, mark the date on your calendar and watch the site of the bite for 30 days for early signs of Lyme disease.