Dog Ticks & Humans

The tick is a pest often associated with summer. While dogs are the preferred host, other warm-blooded animals, including humans, can find themselves host to this unwelcome parasite. Prevention and early detection is key to avoiding contact with these disease-carrying arachnids.

Tick Facts

• Ticks are a member of the arachnid family, meaning they have four pair of legs and no antennae. Ticks go through four life stages---egg, six-legged larva, nymph and adult. All stages except the egg are parasitic. Unfed ticks are shaped like a flat seed with mouthparts (often incorrectly called the head) and are about 3/16 of an inch long. Well-fed females can swell to a half-inch before dropping off to lay between 1,000 and 3,000 eggs.

Common Dog Ticks

• The tick most associated with humans is the American dog tick, also known as the wood tick. This tick prefers dogs, but will feed on any warm-blooded host. The nymph stage will attack rodents and birds, while adults will lie on the tips of leaves and grasses waiting to be brushed onto the skin or hair of passing animals. Ticks can crawl several feet to a host but cannot jump or fly. They are most active April through June.

  The brown dog tick, also called the kennel tick, is rarely found on humans and is not considered a household pest.

Diseases

• Ticks can transmit the bacteria associated with Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia to humans.

  Contrary to its name, Rocky Mountain spotted fever occurs less often in the Rocky Mountains than it does in other parts of the country. Symptoms usually appear five to 10 days after a bite and may include fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, lack of appetite and severe headache. Later symptoms are rash, abdominal pain, joint pain and diarrhea. Treatment involves hospitalization and antibiotics.

  Tularemia is not only caused by bacteria transmitted through tick bites but can also be acquired through skin contact with infected animals or contaminated water. Symptoms include fever, lethargy and anorexia. Tularemia can be life-threatening, but treatment involving antibiotics is usually successful.

  Lyme disease is spread through the smaller deer tick and is an infection that causes an expanding reddish rash and flu-like symptoms. Advanced cases can produce abnormalities in the joints, heart,and nervous system, including meningitis. Early stages usually respond well to antibioltics.

Control and Prevention

• When walking through potentially infested areas, discourage ticks by applying insect repellent containing 10 to 30 percent DEET to clothing. Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, boots and a hat to keep ticks away from skin. Light-colored clothing makes ticks easy to see. Walk in the center of trails and avoid brushing against leaves or tall grass, where ticks may be waiting. Inspect clothing frequently.

  Remove ticks found on clothing using tape. If a tick does embed in the skin, remove with tweezers by grasping as close to the skin as possible and pull gently straight out while being careful not to leave any part of the tick in the skin. Wash the area with soap and water and apply an antiseptic.
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When to Call a Physician

• When a rash that resembles a bull's eye appears on any part of your body or if you have unexplained illness with fever following a tick bite, you may have become infected with one of the diseases ticks carry. Consult a physician as soon as possible. Early detection greatly increases the chances of successful treatment.