Everything you thought you knew about ticks and tick-borne diseases is probably wrong. And plenty of information out there and on the web is downright misleading. For example, did you know that spraying DEET products on your clothes is useless in repelling ticks, and when you spray DEET-containing bug repellant on your skin, a hungry tick will simply keep crawling until it finds a spot without DEET?
How about your knowledge on the blacklegged tick, AKA “deer tick?” Did you know that deer have absolutely nothing to do with the spread of Lyme disease, and do you know all about which ticks carry diseases, which diseases are present in Tri-Town, where these ticks hide out, and how you can prevent them from infecting you?
One bite can change your life and unless you understand the risks, which are higher than many think they are, you and your family will remain vulnerable to not only Lyme disease, but several other devastating diseases that are on the rise in our region.
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a fitting time for it since infectious deer ticks, American dog ticks, and a new player in the game for our area – the lone star tick – emerge and are active in May, which is also the month when Lyme disease and a host of other tick-borne disease cases spike in number.
Ticks have no friends, says entomologist Larry Dapsis, the Deer Tick project coordinator with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension. Even the Dalai Lama, enlightened soul and lover of every form of life on the planet, is no friend of the tick. “I love everything in the world,” says the Dalai Lama. “Except for ticks.”
“That just about says it all,” said Dapsis on April 30 during a talk on ticks at Sippican School. About 75 people showed up for the event, and they later left the school aghast by how at-risk they unknowingly had been for so long.
Dapsis started off his presentation with a little humor, and kept it up consistently throughout the talk – eliciting almost as many laughs as he did gasps of disbelief. A number of “oh, my God” responses also sprinkled the event as people realized how prevalent Lyme disease is and how serious it is for those infected.
Some statistics to start with: 49 of the 50 states have confirmed cases of Lyme disease, and the disease is present in 80 countries which shows, said Dapsis, that Lyme disease – so called because the first confirmed cases came from Lyme, Connecticut – is a re-emerging disease, now accompanied by several other serious and potentially fatal tick-borne diseases.
Ground Zero for tick-borne diseases, said Dapsis, is Massachusetts – your backyard. Plymouth County Lyme disease infections have risen by a two-to-one ratio.
“So, you have a serious problem here,” said Dapsis. The Center for Disease Control from 2001 to 2012 estimated 30,000 new cases every year in the United States. “And there were people who looked at that number and said, ‘That’s just not the right number.’” Dapsis said that number has been revisited and multiplied by ten. There are about 300,000 new Lyme disease cases every year in the country, a public health crisis, said Dapsis.
“The test itself … basically the test sucks,” said Dapsis. It is known to produce false negatives, false positives, and some doctors will not prescribe treatment without a positive Lyme disease result.
Deer ticks, the ones that carry the pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi transmitted through a tick bite, can also transmit Babesiosis, a possibly fatal form of malaria that is on the rise at a steady rate alongside Lyme disease. Babesiosis cases have been confirmed in Marion and Rochester. The pathogen invades the red blood cells and causes a cycle of fever, chills, and severe anemia.
Anaplasmosis attacks the white blood cells and presents symptoms similar to Lyme disease: fatigue, chills, headaches, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes, and confusion.
With Lyme, one does NOT necessarily always present with the typical “bull’s-eye” rash that extends from the bite.
Dapsis recommends the safe removal of the tick with pointed tweezers (NEVER, ever squish the tick or pull it off with your fingers – this will increase your risk of infection) and saving the tick for testing. Testing, he said, is 100 percent accurate.
What’s more, you can be co-infected by more than one of these diseases at the same time.
A tick new to the area, the lone star tick, has been found at all five of the testing sites on Cape Cod, Cutty Hunk, and Naushon Islands. “There were larvae everywhere,” said Dapsis. There is a newly-established population of this tick in Massachusetts, spread by migrating birds, most likely said Dapsis, and likely spreading to mainland Massachusetts via birds, too. These ticks carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Tularemia, which can even trigger a sudden allergy to red meat.
Getting back to the most prevalent of unsavory characters in our area, the dreaded deer tick – here is how it works. There are four stages in a deer tick’s two-year life cycle, in which a deer tick feeds only three times in its life cycle.
In the spring and summer of year one, eggs hatch into larvae, which feed and then molt into nymphs, about the same size as a poppy seed. Nymphs lie dormant throughout fall and winter and then emerge the second year in May to feed through August.
One in every four nymphs carries Lyme disease.
The nymphs hang out in the leaf litter and in low-lying vegetation, feeding mostly on rodents and birds they latch onto. They also latch onto people as they brush by bushes. The nymph stage is the most dangerous for humans since the ticks are so small and the bite unnoticeable.
In the fall, the nymphs molt into adults and feed on larger mammals, including deer.
Deer, however, according to Dapsis, are incompetent hosts for the Lyme disease-causing bacteria Lyme borreliosis and, unlike birds and rodents, do not infect ticks with the pathogen. In fact, said Dapsis, the tick will lose its infection of the bacteria upon feeding on a deer.
“There’s something in the deer blood that clears the bacteria,” said Dapsis. Those in attendance were visually shocked by the information. When it comes to Lyme disease perpetrators, said Dapsis, “You’re looking at the wrong things,” if you look at deer. On the same token, 50 percent of songbirds are infected with Lyme, including the robin.
Adult stage deer ticks are active from September through the winter into May, and are roughly the size of a sesame seed.
One in every two adult deer ticks carries Lyme disease.
Ticks feed for four to five days, in a cycle of spitting and sucking blood. It begins by spitting to glue itself in place.
“Ticks are designed to stay for a while,” said Dapsis. “And it’s got no social graces at all.”
The spit, which secretes anticoagulants and enzymes to dull the pain-sensing nerves, is where the bacteria lie.
Prevention of Lyme disease starts with protection from ticks. Soccer moms and dads should be aware, said Dapsis, that Lyme infection cases increase at ages five through nine. For retirees who love golfing and gardening, infection spikes again at ages 65 to 69.
“Phase One” starts with a tick check every time you are exposed to wooded areas, or shady, damp, brushy locations including yards and gardens. Your first line of defense, said Dapsis, is to wear light-colored clothing covering your bare skin, while tucking your pants into your socks.
Do not rely on DEET-containing sprays to protect you and your family from ticks. They can still crawl all over you and find a nice juicy spot that is DEET-free.
In addition to DEET, said Dapsis, you can purchase permethrin to spray on your shoes and clothing, and the repellant will last for up to six washings. The chemical, which is safe for human use, actually kills ticks after 60 seconds of exposure. It is the only product available for tick deterring for humans. Treating your footwear, said Dapsis, is “mission critical.”
After a tick check, tumble-dry your clothing for 20 minutes.
“Doing Phase One gets you 90 percent of the way down the road” towards Lyme disease prevention, said Dapsis.
Phase Two is protecting your yard. Contrary to common belief, moving bird feeders, pruning for extra sunlight, and moving woodpiles do not lessen the tick population in your yard.
You must spray the perimeter of your property, “the transition zone,” Dapsis called it. Leaf litter must be saturated, and shady, humid areas are likely places for ticks.
Phase Three: Protect your pets. Tick-repelling collars are a good way to do just that, said Dapsis, along with frequent tick checks.
Despite a growing human health crisis, Dapsis said, it is discouraging that there is such little public outreach about ticks while the state focuses on mosquito-borne illnesses, which are far rarer than Lyme.
“The state has no action plan,” said Dapsis. “I think they’re kind of clueless.”
For further information, visit www.capecodextension.org.
And remember, the Dalai Lama himself hates ticks. And so should you.
“Don’t let one bite change your life,” said Dapsis.
By Jean Perry
