– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension
Humans are infected through the bites of immature black legged ticks calls nymphs.
It is becoming common knowledge that Lyme disease cases are on the rise in Ohio and that Lyme disease is transferred to people through the black-legged tick (A.K.A.- deer tick). It makes sense, given that the preferred habitat of this tick is the habitat occurring throughout Southeast Ohio- forested areas with leaf-litter coverage, grassy forest edges, and other areas with low-lying vegetation where wildlife are common. At this point, the black-legged tick is distributed through nearly every county in the state and poses a significant health risk to Ohioans.
Over the past week, another member of my immediate family has begun treatment for Lyme disease. The issue is prevalent and could present for any of us at any time. Even with the best prevention techniques and frequent tick checks, there is still risk. It doesn’t get more real than seeing the bull’s eye rash develop on your child and realizing that if the rash wasn’t there, you could have missed the signs and the diagnosis.
While the bull’s eye rash is a classic symptom of Lyme disease that will typically develop within 7-14 days of an infected tick bite, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns us that 30% of confirmed cases of Lyme disease DO NOT experience the rash. Patients with Lyme disease may have other symptoms that are easy to confuse with other causes. They can include:
- Headache
- Fever
- Chills
- Muscle Pain
- Join Pain
- Fatigue
- All the symptoms working together may also cause an uncharacteristic change in mood for the infected person.
Many people who contract Lyme disease never even knew that they were bit by a tick. Lyme disease is most often passed by nymphal ticks that may be as small as a poppyseed. (https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/zoonotic-disease-program/diseases/lyme-disease)
We are tick vigilant at home. We never saw a tick on our child. However, she did complain about neck pain and a headache a few days before the rash appeared. We initially thought she was just overtired from a fun week of summer camp. However, because we are also vigilant about watching for the symptoms of tick related disease, I think we caught on in the early stages of infection and were able to prevent the compounding of symptoms that would make for a miserable summer.
Prevention is step number one way to combat Lyme disease. Early detection and treatment are key. Even tests for Lyme can present false negatives depending on the individual person’s timeline of infection and their immune system response. If you experience unexplained symptoms that align with the previously provided list, please seek assistance from a medical professional. It is better to be safe than sorry.
To protect yourself from ticks and tick related illness avoid going into tall vegetation while unprotected by tick repellent or permethrin treated clothing, wear light-colored clothing and minimize exposed skin, perform frequent and thorough tick checks after time outdoors, and protect your pets as well. If you discover an attached tick, use pointy tweezers to grab the tick as close to the skin as possible, then pull straight upward with steady, even pressure, save the tick in rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, or a sealed container/bag, finally wash your hands, the bite site, and the tools with soap and water (https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ent-0096).
To learn more about ticks and tick related illnesses, see this OSU fact sheet: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-2073
To see photos of the classic bull’s eye rash, see the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs-symptoms/lyme-disease-rashes.html