PREVENTION AND CONTROL

The best advice for preventing Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases is to:

1. Wear protective light-colored clothing while outdoors, including a broad-brimmed hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants tucked into the socks;

2. Check the body daily for the presence of ticks;

3. Use tick repellents, DEET, or permethrins;

4. Use forceps or tweezers to carefully remove ticks attached to the skin. Apply gentle, constant retraction of the tick where it attaches to the skin (not the body of the tick);

5. Seek immediate medical attention if signs or symptoms or early Lyme disease appear.

The best way to avoid attachment of a blacklegged tick is to stay out of wooded or brushy areas in known Lyme disease counties. This option is not always realistic. Repellents such as DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) offer considerable protection if applied to clothing and exposed skin. Because of recent concern over adverse reactions in a few individuals, sprays with no more than 35 percent DEET are recommended. An effective acaricide, Permanone™, contains the synthetic pyrethroid permethrin and is applied as a spray to clothing. It is not approved for use on skin. Long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks also aid in preventing tick bites. Light-colored clothing helps to detect the dark-colored tick provided the wearer inspects for ticks intermittently.

Hunters and hikers increase their risk of encountering a blacklegged tick by following deer trails and by resting on the forest floor. Studies in New York have shown that a high density of nymphal blacklegged ticks is present in leaf litter. Adult ticks more often are collected from narrow forest trails than from general sites throughout the forest, and they are more prevalent in high, brushy vegetation .

Hunters should be cautious when harvesting deer. The urine, blood, and liver could carry the spirochetes, which can enter through cuts in the hands, although this is highly unlikely. Cooking destroys the bacteria and eliminates any danger of getting Lyme disease from eating venison. There are no documented cases of transmission through handling or consuming deer flesh.

Self-examination is recommended after spending time in infested areas. If an embedded tick is found, it should be removed with fine tweezers by grasping the head and pulling with steady firm pressure. The tick should not be grabbed in the middle of its body because the gut contents may be expelled into the skin. The use of heat (lit match, cigarette, etc.), or petroleum jelly is NOT recommended to force the tick out. These methods will irritate the tick, and may cause it to regurgitate its stomach contents into the individual, thereby increasing the possibility of infection.

Sincerely,

Matt Kulp

President