The great outdoors and tick-borne illness

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Stan Knutelski
  • 97th Medical Group Public Health
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Bicycling, hiking, fishing, camping, you name it, and there are people taking advantage of  long summer days. 

Summer weather also brings little friends. When mosquitoes are a problem they bite and you know it. Ticks bite, but people don't usually feel it, and unless it's in a place you can easily see, they may fall off before you ever know they were there. 

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma consistently ranks among the states with the highest reported number of tick-borne illnesses every year. Oklahoma reported 183 cases in 2007; this year there have been 35 confirmed cases to date. These illnesses include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Tularemia, in order of prevalence. Of the 183 cases in 2006, more than 75 percent were confirmed to be RMSF. 

The majority of infections are from two common ticks, the American Dog Tick and the Lone Star Tick. Both are common in southwestern Oklahoma.

Symptoms of all tick-borne illnesses may include fever, headache (often severe), muscle aches, rash, vomiting, abdominal pain, and in the case of Tularemia, swelling of the lymph nodes near the bite. Most people with confirmed tick-borne illness respond to a course of common antibiotics.

To prevent tick-borne illness the OSDH recommends the following measures:
     · Wear light-colored clothing to make ticks easier to see.
     · Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks to deprive ticks of      
     attachment sites.
     · Wear closed-toe shoes, not sandals.
     · Hikers and bikers should stay in the center of trails to avoid grass and brush.
     · Check for ticks at least once per day, particularly along waistbands, in the armpits 
     and groin area.
     · Use a tick repellent with DEET on skin and clothing according to directions.
     · Use a tick repellent with permethrin on clothing only and according to directions. 

If you do find a tick attached, remove as outlined below. Use the same procedure when removing ticks from your animals: 
     · Use tweezers, or fingers wrapped in tissue, to grasp the tick as close to the 
     surface of the skin as possible. Try not to twist or jerk the tick as you pull.
     · Use gentle, steady pressure to pull the tick from the skin.
     · Do not squeeze the body of the tick at any time while it is attached , you can 
     release disease-causing organisms into the bite wound.
     · Do not squeeze the body of the tick to kill it after it has been removed - you can 
     force disease-causing organisms out of the tick and onto/into your skin.
     · Do not use matches, gasoline or nail polish remover as methods of tick removal.
     · Note the date of tick removal on your calendar.
     · Wash clothing and inspect your body for additional ticks and don't forget the back 
     and the scalp.

If you experience these symptoms within 14 days of a tick bite, or if you have been outdoors and have these symptoms even if a bite was not noticed, contact your physician. If you remove a tick, place it in a container and bring it with you to the clinic and the Public Health staff can assist the doctor in identification.

Contact the 97th Medical Group Public Health office at 481-5359.