Ticked off at ticks

Ticks, like almost every parasite that requires a blood-meal, have the potential of spreading disease among humans, livestock and pets. And, unless you never go outdoors - or never touch your dog or cat - there is no way to absolutely prevent contact with a tick.

In our neck of the woods, ticks are found in just about any place where there are plants, except under the surface of a lake, stream or pond.

A tick attached to your child, companion or pet has the slight chance infecting he or she with any number of tick-borne diseases, including Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, Canine Ehrlichiosis and Tick Paralysis.

There are over 850 species of ticks. The females feed on almost all terrestrial vertebrates (animals with backbones), including reptiles and amphibians. (Male ticks feed on plants).

There are two basic kinds of ticks: soft-bodied and hard-bodied. The soft-bodied variety, known to the scientific community as argasids (are-gas-idds), are the most common around Deschutes County. The females take almost 24 hours to acquire their blood, and then drop off to lay eggs.

The hard-bodied ticks are not as common, and they sometimes take longer to obtain a blood meal.

When a tick is engorged with blood it resembles a small, pea-sized grayish balloon. When people find them at this stage, they often panic, especially after discovering the tick imbedded along their child's hairline, or in their pet's ear.

In their imagination they are swept away by the specter of Lyme Disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Some people even envision rabies.

There's no need to panic.

In most cases, it takes over 24 hours for a tick to transmit disease into the blood stream. You - or your companion - will undoubtedly discover the tick long before two days pass.

Go to your medicine cabinet and grab your handy-dandy tweezers. Firmly grasp (don't squeeze) beneath the pea-sized balloon, as close the victim's skin as possible were the tick's head should be, and begin to slowly pull the tick straight out. Don't twist it.

Don't rush this; there's a slight chance you could tear the head from the body of the tick and leave it behind. That's not good; a secondary infection may be a problem later.

Do not use grease, gasoline or heat to remove a tick.

According to a doctor at St. Charles Hospital Emergency Services, after the tick has been removed, the next step is to scrub the wound liberally with a good disinfectant soap. If the head of the tick has been accidentally left, a thorough scrubbing will usually remove it.

Just as a safe bet, pickle the tick in isopropyl alcohol, so you know who was taking your blood.

The chances of contacting Lyme Disease, or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick in our area is very remote. There has only been one reported case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Deschutes County in over six years.

A woman in the Redmond area was found recently to have the disease, and there is still some question how she contracted it - through a tick here, or from another location.

Lyme Disease, also carried by ticks, is a serious public health problem in the Northeast, with hot spots in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and other New England states.

It is also found in Northern California, around the redwoods, and in Oregon near Medford, and along the Coast. But it is not all that common in the Northwest.

According Nancy Looman, Public Health Nurse with the Deschutes County Health Department, there have been only four cases of Lyme Disease reported in Deschutes County in 1995 and '96, and there are questions as to where the victims might have been infected. State health records show that between 1993 and '96 there have been 52 cases of Lyme Disease reported state-wide.

So what do we do to try to prevent tick contact? Here are a few thoughts:

· Stay on trails when hiking in the forest, mountains or desert - it's probably not a good idea to go bushwhacking. Remember, ticks cannot fly or hop, you have to come to them.

Keep your pet on a leash when walking the trails; this is not only the rule in most areas (and polite to other hikers), it's also a good way to prevent your pet from coming into contact with ticks and fleas.

Wear light colored outer garments; ticks are easier to spot on lighter surfaces. Tuck your hiking pants into your socks.

Stop every once in a while and check your child, and have a companion inspect your clothing for a clinging tick.

Check with your physician to see if you are allergic to any of the chemical tick and flea repellents available today. Be careful, and use such chemicals only as directed. It is important to be sure chemicals are also safe to use on your pets.

Do not encourage personal contact with wild animals, especially golden mantel ground squirrels. Not only are rodents a host for ticks, but they also are known to carry fleas - and fleas can carry diseases as dangerous as the ticks-borne variety.

At the end of the day be sure you do a careful tick-check all over your body.

There are several places you can assess for additional information about diseases carried by ticks. Go on the internet and bring up the Arthritis Foundation, or Center for Diseases Control; you'll find a hot-line on Lyme Disease and other parasite-transmitted diseases. You can also obtain additional information from your doctor, and the Deschutes County Health Department.

But above all, use common sense to prevent contact with ticks, and don't panic if you find one on yourself, your child, or pet. Don't let fear (or phobia) of ticks spoil your day in the beautiful mountains, forests and desert of the Oregon Country.