When hiking or handling outdoor chores, beware of ticks

Karyn Thornton, a physician assistant with Mineral Community Hospital in Superior, said it is typical to start seeing tick bites in the emergency room about this time of year.

Ticks are little blood-sucking creatures that are often found on pets and people as a host. They live in the long brush and grasses that people often start to remove in the spring. Peak months of attachment on humans are June and July.

There are 14 species in the U.S. that spread disease but only two, the Brown Dog Tick and Rocky Mountain Wood Tick call Montana Home. The 2016 Department of Health and Human Services showed 29 tick borne illness in Montana with three cases of Tularemia, nine Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and 17 cases of Lyme Disease.

“It’s interesting that the highest tick borne illness, lymes, was believed to have been causes by out of state ticks and was not caused by Montana ticks,” Thornton said.

Lymes is the disease most commonly known to be spread by ticks and has hit epidemic numbers in the Midwest and east coast. With some areas believed to have over 60 percent carrying the virus that causes lymes. Symptoms of tick borne disease vary from rash on the hands, skin ulcer, lymph swelling and high fever and may be delayed for up to 30 days after infection. The most common finding in the emergency room is that of a simple cellulites or infection of skin at the site. In most cases this can be prevented by cleaning the site of attachment upon removal with soap and water, alcohol, or beta dine.

Ticks found on the head and neck, especially in children, need to be found early as there have been cases of tick “paralysis” in which the exposure to the toxin in tick saliva actually causes an acute ascending flaccid paralysis. This is more common in young children and pets. This toxin is meant to provide anesthetic to animals and people upon being bit and in some people actually causes this severe reaction that can be life threatening however is very rare.

“If a tick is found on your pet or person the most important issue is early removal. I see emergency visits for the harm that occurs when people attempt the folklore attempt of a light match to the tick to make it “back out”. This does not work and usually causes more harm than good,” Thornton explained. “The best treatment is to apply rubbing alcohol to the site, then grasp the head of the tick and pull slowly straight out, do not twist or the head of the tick can break off being left in the skin. There is minimal pain with this procedure. Often a small piece of white tissue either skin or adhesive is removed with. If you have any concerns for the health of the person, place the tick in a jar with a piece of water soaked cotton and save in case the host becomes il. It’s expensive, but the tick can be tested for some tick-borne diseases.”

Prevention is always key in any disease. Most tick bites occur when outside in brush or high grasses but with appropriate clothing protects, DEET, and permethrin, can be applied to deter ticks. However, Thornton believes the best prevention is clothing that covers, and early surveillance when returning from the woods. Ticks usually attach at areas of thin skin so they like hiding places like the nape of neck and groin. It takes two hours to two days for a tick to feed, and the more engorged it is the longer it has been present. Ticks are very small and can be difficult to find until engorged from feeding.

“With the Mineral Community Hospital ‘Hospital Hikers’ program underway, I urge you to be on alert for these tiny ‘nuisances’, but also encourage you to take part in the great outdoors for health and recreation,” she said.