Managing tick risks: A guide

Ticks are small, blood-sucking arachnids that can carry and transmit a variety of diseases to humans and animals. They are found in many parts of the world, particularly in areas with dense vegetation, such as forests, fields, and grasslands. In this article, we will explore the characteristics of ticks, the diseases they transmit, and methods of prevention.

Deer tick populations are increasing, likely for a number of reasons. Climate change ensures more ticks survive year to year, increasing breeding numbers. More people are heading into the woods, where they are likely to encounter ticks. Land use changes could be increasing deer populations, the most frequent hosts for ticks. Researchers have found a single deer infested with hundreds of ticks.

The deer don’t carry the virus. But what a deer is good for is making lots of ticks, A mama tick wants to take on a lot of blood and if she can do that she’s going to produce more eggs.

Powassan virus is also carried by other ticks, namely groundhog ticks and squirrel ticks, but Schofield describes those as “lazy ticks,” unlikely to leave their hosts’ burrows and latch on to humans. In contrast, deer ticks are adventurers that will climb vegetation and wait to catch a ride on whatever passes by, be it an animal or a human.

Lyme disease, if caught early, can be treated with antibiotics. But there is no treatment for Powassan virus. As with Lyme disease, the best defence is to keep from getting bitten in the first place.

A deer tick lives for three years. In the first year or larval stage, the ticks are not infectious and will likely feed on small rodents like the white-footed mouse. After overwintering, they enter the nymph stage in their second summer. That’s when they pose the greatest risk to people. Still tiny and hard to spot, the nymphs are more likely to be carriers of Lyme disease or Powassan virus and more likely to find and feed on a human host. After overwintering for a second time, the ticks feed and reproduce in their third summer.

While Powassan virus can cause profound illness, it remains rare compared to the more widespread risk of Lyme diesease. And though ticks are now common in the Ottawa area, Schofield said the risk is manageable.

“What you don’t want to do, is to discourage people from getting outside and into nature.”

Prevention is the best protection:

• Assume ticks are present in any natural area.

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, tucked into your socks to minimize exposed skin. Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to see ticks. Throw your clothes into a hot dryer for 10 minutes at the end of the day to kill any unseen ticks.

• Stay on trails, if possible, and avoid long grass or brushing against trees or bushes

• Use an insect repellent containing DEET or icaridin. Tick-repellant clothing that’s been treated with Permethrin is also safe and effective.

• Do a full body check of yourself and children, paying particular attention to toes, knees, armpits, groin and scalp, areas where ticks like to latch on. Ticks can be tiny, no more than the size of a poppy seed for nymphs and sesame seed-sized for adults.

• Remove ticks with tweezers or tick tools, being careful not to squeeze an engorged tick or to leave its head behind. The sooner a tick is removed, the less risk of being infected.