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How Do Ticks Spread?

Ticks are external, blood-feeding parasites that seek a host to satisfy their appetites. Mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles become hosts when the tick latches onto their skin and penetrates it with its feeding tube. Ticks can cause conditions like anemia and transport several diseases, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Ticks live in most of the world's forested and wooded regions, favoring water and areas with deer and human tracks. They are clever at finding hosts and spreading.

  1. Questing

    • Ticks identify potential hosts by detecting an animal's breath, scent, body heat, moisture and vibrations. Some tick species can recognize the shadow of a possible host and are keen at identifying heavily used paths and trails. Resting on the tips of shrubs and grasses, they assume the "questing position," which is to grasp leaves or blades with their third and fourth pairs of legs. Another set of legs are outstretched and ready to jump aboard a host when it brushes past. Some ticks are quick to stake their claim on any part of the skin, but others wander around in search of more specific accommodations, like an ear, armpit, skin folds, the backs of the knees or the nape of the neck.

    Stalking

    • Though ticks can't jump or fly, some species are able to stalk and attack from ground level. Six-legged, newborn seed ticks are an example of ticks that will launch a massive ambush on an unsuspecting victim. They do this by suddenly emerging from crevices and cracks in woodsy areas, barns, kennels and homes, infesting their hosts in numbers as high as 30,000 at a time. Cats, kittens, puppies and weak or elderly dogs can die from anemia caused by an influx of seed ticks. Cattle, horses, moose, lions and other mammals are also targeted by seed ticks and susceptible to anemia, several diseases, paralysis and death.

    Spreading Disease

    • It is during feeding that ticks transmit disease-causing pathogens to their hosts. Once its feeding tube is inserted, the tick will slowly suck blood from the host, gorging for several days. Its saliva, which carries pathogens, drops onto the host and is absorbed through the skin. Because ticks pursue more than one host throughout their four life stages, one single tick can be responsible for several people or animals becoming sick.

    Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease

    • Rocky Mountain spotted fever produces joint and muscle pain, dizziness and seizures. Transmitted by the American dog tick, the winter or elk tick and the Rocky Mountain spotted tick, most cases are found in the southeastern United States. It is treatable with antibiotics but can be fatal without medical attention. Lyme disease is a bacterium infection that can cause arthritis, facial palsy, memory loss, fever and abnormal pulse. It is carried by deer ticks. Deer mobility, bird migration and infected ticks dropping off of pets as people travel about the country are possible reasons for this spread. Early treatment most always results in a complete cure. Treatment started after the initial few weeks of infection will also likely end in cure, but the rate decreases the longer treatment is delayed.

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