Ticks and Tick Bite Prevention
Ticks are present throughout the Blue Ridge Health District and are often found in wooded areas, brushy fields, along trails and around homes. Ticks can spread diseases like Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. Preventing tick bites, controlling ticks around your yard and prompt removal of ticks are important ways to help prevent tick bites and the diseases that ticks may transmit.
Avoiding tick bites is the best way to prevent tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. It is important to be extra vigilant from March through October when ticks are most active, and people spend more time outdoors. Blacklegged ticks, which potentially transmit Lyme disease, are also active on warm winter days when the temperature is greater than 40 °F.
Minimize Direct Contact with Ticks
- Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
- Walk in the center of trails.
- Maintain your yard and landscaping to reduce/minimize tick habitat.
Choose the Right Insect Repellent
- Use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended active ingredients:
DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) or para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. - Apply repellent to your clothing as well as exposed skin.
- Do not use repellent on babies younger than 2 months old.
- Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children under 3 years old.
- Always follow product label instructions.
Treat clothing, gear, and shoes with 0.5% permethrin, but don’t Do a Tick Check!
- Bathe or shower as soon as possible when you get back inside.
- Check your body with a mirror because ticks like to hide.
- Examine gear and pets for hitchhikers and stowaways.
- Wash clothing and dry with high heat.
- You found a tick? Don’t panic!
Remove Ticks Safely
- Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick; this may cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin.
- After removing the tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash your hands with soap and water.
- Bring the tick to the Health Department for free tick identification service.
- Do not squeeze, crush, or puncture the body of the tick because its fluids may contain infectious organisms.
- Do not use nail polish, petroleum jelly, or a hot match to make the tick detach from your skin.
Keep Ticks at Bay Outside
- Be careful in the woods, brush, and leaf litter.
- Walk in the center of trails — avoid overhanging vegetation.
- Eliminate brush piles.
- Practice Safe Landscaping: Keep your yard trimmed and the grass mowed.
More about Ticks