If you spend time outdoors or have pets that go outdoors, you need to beware of ticks. Ticks are small bloodsucking parasites. Many species transmit diseases to animals and people. Some of the diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

Some ticks are so small that they can be difficult to see. Ticks may get on you if you walk through areas where they live, such as tall grass, leaf litter or shrubs.

Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should

• Use a chemical repellent with DEET, permethrin or picaridin
• Wear light-colored protective clothing
• Tuck pant legs into socks
• Avoid tick-infested areas
• Check yourself, your children and your pets daily for ticks and carefully remove any ticks you find

As people spend more time outdoors, so do many insects and pests. Among them are ticks, which are small bloodsucking parasites and arthropods.

Some diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia.

One of the biggest things to keep in mind when thinking about the risk of tick bites is your location. Different regions in the U.S. are home to various types of ticks. The type or species of a tick determines what diseases it may carry.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine spoke with two officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to find out more about tick bites, how to avoid them, and new research that could increase our understanding of how to treat tick-related conditions.

Types of ticks

The deer tick (Ixodes scapulars) is found mainly in the Eastern and upper Midwestern regions of the U.S. It can cause conditions like Lyme disease and babesiosis.

The dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is found in the Eastern half of the U.S. and can cause diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. There have been reports of dog ticks as far west as California.

The lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum) lives in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. It carries diseases such as ehrlichiosis and Southern tick associated rash illness.

Location, location, location

"The east coast here in the U.S., parts of the south and Midwest, and even in California you have the major [tick-borne] disease, which is Lyme disease," said José Ribeiro, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Vector Biology Section of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research in NIAID's Division of Intramural Research. "People should be aware of ticks and where they can encounter them. In other parts of the country you have other diseases, like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in the Rocky Mountains, and so on."

Online maps that show tick activity in different regions of the country can be helpful in understanding the risk in your region.

Prevention is a top priority

Maliha Ilias, Ph.D., Lyme Disease Research Program Officer in NIAID's Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, said it is important to prevent ticks from coming into contact with your skin.

Dr. Ilias discussed that there are ways to prevent exposure to ticks. She noted that the best way to do this is wear clothing that covers your arms and legs; tuck your pants into your socks or even put tape around openings in clothing so ticks have no access; and wear light-colored clothing to also help you see if a tick is on you. When you are in the woods, keep to the center of the trail, where ticks are less likely to be (ticks tend to stay in shrubs and bushes).

As soon as you are home, check yourself or have a family member help check you for ticks. Use a fine-tooth comb through your hair and check folds of the skin. You should also shower and wash your clothes at a high heat so any ticks on you are killed.

Stay calm

If you do find a tick on yourself or a family member, be sure to stay calm.

"I think the most important thing for folks to know is that if they find the tick on themselves, don't panic," Dr. Ilias said, noting that it typically takes 36 hours for the bacteria that causes Lyme diseases to travel from the tick gut to its salivary glands and into the host.

It is also important to remove the tick properly. "There is a lot of folklore about how to take a tick out of your skin. Some people even talk about having a lighted cigarette close by, things like that," Dr. Ribeiro said. "The most important thing is just to use appropriate forceps such as tweezers. Grab the whole tick and pull it out."

Saliva is a tick's best friend

A tick's saliva (or spit) is important in its ability to feed. A combination of compounds in a tick's saliva stops human blood from clotting while the tick feeds.

"What we're seeing now is ticks change the composition of their saliva every few days. So the cocktail that they're showing on Monday will be completely different from the cocktail that will be showing up on Friday," Dr. Ribeiro said.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health are studying the saliva of arthropods to see if there is a way to create a vaccine that will affect the saliva. A current study is looking at a vaccine that works against the saliva of sand flies, so the parasite cannot establish itself at the site of the initial bite. This sort of vaccine will be harder to develop for ticks, as the tick is constantly changing the composition of its saliva.

Early removal is key

The sooner you remove a tick, the better. It takes time for infections to reach a person's blood stream, especially Lyme disease. A tick needs to remain attached for 36 hours before Lyme disease can be transmitted, so remove any ticks as quickly as you can.

However, you may not always know if you’ve been bitten by a tick, and therefore won’t know to keep an eye out for symptoms of tickborne disease.

Looking forward, Dr. Ilias noted the importance of a sensitive and specific diagnostic test for Lyme disease, particularly to detect it early. She added that Lyme disease can be effectively treated if it is diagnosed early.

Tick bite prevention

Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should:

• Use a chemical repellent with DEET, permethrin or picaridin.
• Wear light-colored protective clothing.
• Tuck pant legs into socks.
• Avoid tick-infested areas.
• Check yourself, your children, and your pets daily for ticks and carefully remove any ticks.

What do Asian longhorned ticks look like?

What we know about Asian longhorned ticks in the U.S.

• Not normally found in the Western Hemisphere, these ticks were reported for the first time in the United States in 2017.
• Asian longhorned ticks have been found on pets, livestock, wildlife, and people.
• The female ticks can lay eggs and reproduce without mating.

• Thousands of ticks may be found at a time in grass or shrubs or on an animal.
• Researchers are looking for these ticks to find out where they live and if they prefer wooded or more open areas.
• As of February 7, 2020, longhorned ticks have been found in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
• Compared with well-known native ticks (such as the blacklegged tick, lone star tick and American dog tick), the Asian longhorned tick appears to be less attracted to human skin.
• In other countries, germs spread via bites from these ticks can make people and animals seriously ill.
  • With ongoing testing of ticks collected in the United States, it is likely that some ticks will be found to contain germs that can be harmful to people. However, we do not yet know if and how often these ticks are able to pass these germs along to people and make them ill. (See sidebar.)
  • One recent experimental study found that this tick is not likely to contribute to the spread of Lyme disease bacteria in the United States.
  • Another laboratory study found that this tick has the ability to carry and spread the bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Rickettsia rickettsii). The germs that cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever have not yet been found in these ticks in nature.
  • Research is ongoing.
• You can protect yourself from tick bites. CDC-recommended personal protective measures such as the use of EPA-approved insect repellents and 0.5% permethrin-treated clothing are effective against Asian longhorned ticks.

What you should do if you think you have found an Asian longhorned tick

• Remove ticks from people and animals as quickly as possible.
• Save the ticks in rubbing alcohol in a jar or a ziplock bag, then:
  • Contact your health department about steps you can take to prevent tick bites and tickborne diseases.
  • Contact a veterinarian for information about how to protect pets from ticks and tick bites.
  • Contact your state agriculture department or local agricultural extension office about ticks on livestock or for tick identification.

The lifecycle of blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus) generally lasts two years. During this time, they go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and adult. After the eggs hatch, the ticks must have a blood meal at every stage to survive.

Blacklegged ticks can feed from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The ticks need to have a new host at each stage of their life, as shown below:

How ticks find their hosts

Ticks can't fly or jump. Instead, they wait for a host, resting on the tips of grasses and shrubs in a position known as "questing". While questing, ticks hold onto leaves and grass by their lower legs. They hold their upper pair of legs outstretched, waiting to climb onto a passing host. When a host brushes the spot where a tick is waiting, it quickly climbs aboard. It then finds a suitable place to bite its host.

How ticks spread disease

The tick feeding process makes ticks very good at transmitting infection:

• Depending on the tick species and its stage of life, preparing to feed can take from 10 minutes to 2 hours. When the tick finds a feeding spot, it grasps the skin and cuts into the surface. The tick then inserts its feeding tube. Many species also secrete a cement-like substance that keeps them firmly attached during the meal. The feeding tube can have barbs which help keep the tick in place.
• Ticks also can secrete small amounts of saliva with anesthetic properties so that the animal or person can't feel that the tick has attached itself. If the tick is in a sheltered spot, it can go unnoticed.
• A blacklegged tick will attach to its host and suck the blood slowly for several days. If the host animal has certain bloodborne infections, such as the Lyme disease agent, the tick may ingest the pathogen and become infected. If the tick later feeds on a human, that human can become infected.
• After feeding, the blacklegged tick drops off and prepares for the next life stage. At its next feeding, it can then transmit the infection to the new host. Once infected, a tick can transmit infection throughout its life.
• If you remove a tick quickly (within 24 hours) you can greatly reduce your chances of getting Lyme disease. It takes some time for the Lyme disease-causing bacteria to move from the tick to the host. The longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk of acquiring disease from it.

Of the many different tick species found throughout the world, only a select few bite and transmit disease to people. Of the ticks that bite people, different species of ticks transmit different diseases. These maps show the general distribution of human-biting ticks in the contiguous United States. Populations of ticks may be found outside shaded areas. Naturally occurring populations of the ticks described below do not occur in Alaska; however, the brown dog tick occurs in Hawaii.

Note that adult ticks are the easiest to identify and male and female ticks of the same species may look different. Nymphal and larval ticks are very small and may be hard to identify.

American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)

Where found: Widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. Also occurs in limited areas on the Pacific Coast.
Transmits: Tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Comments: The highest risk of being bitten occurs during spring and summer. Dog ticks are sometimes called wood ticks. Adult females are most likely to bite humans.

Blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis)

Where found: Widely distributed across the eastern United States.
Transmits:Borrelia burgdorferi and B. mayonii (which cause Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis), B. miyamotoi disease (a form of relapsing fever), Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis (ehrlichiosis), Babesia microti (babesiosis), and Powassan virus (Powassan virus disease).
Comments: The greatest risk of being bitten exists in the spring, summer, and fall. However, adults may be out searching for a host any time winter temperatures are above freezing. Stages most likely to bite humans are nymphs and adult females.

Brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

Where found: Worldwide.
Transmits: Rocky Mountain spotted fever (in the southwestern U.S. and along the U.S.-Mexico border).
Comments: Dogs are the primary host for the brown dog tick in each of its life stages, but the tick may also bite humans or other mammals.

Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum)

Where found: Coastal areas of the U.S. along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
Transmits:Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis, a form of spotted fever.
Comments: Larvae and nymphs feed on birds and small rodents, while adult ticks feed on deer and other wildlife. Adult ticks have been associated with transmission of R. parkeri to humans.

Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)

Where found: Widely distributed in the southeastern and eastern United States.
Transmits:Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii (which cause human ehrlichiosis), Heartland virus, tularemia, and STARI.
Comments: A very aggressive tick that bites humans. The adult female is distinguished by a white dot or “lone star” on her back. Lone star tick saliva can be irritating; redness and discomfort at a bite site does not necessarily indicate an infection. The nymph and adult females most frequently bite humans and transmit disease.

Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni)

Where found: Rocky Mountain states and southwestern Canada from elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet.
Transmits: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, and tularemia.
Comments: Adult ticks feed primarily on large mammals. Larvae and nymphs feed on small rodents. Adult ticks are primarily associated with pathogen transmission to humans.

Western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus)

Where found: Along the Pacific coast of the U.S., particularly northern California.
Transmits: Anaplasmosis and Lyme disease.
Comments: Nymphs often feed on lizards, as well as other small animals. As a result, rates of infection are usually low (~1%) in adults. Stages most likely to bite humans are nymphs and adult females.

How ticks survive

Most ticks go through four life stages: egg, six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and adult. After hatching from the eggs, ticks must eat blood at every stage to survive. Ticks that require this many hosts can take up to 3 years to complete their full life cycle, and most will die because they don’t find a host for their next feeding.

The lifecycle of Ixodes scapularis ticks generally lasts two years. During this time, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. After the eggs hatch, the ticks must have a blood meal at every stage to survive. Blacklegged ticks can feed from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The ticks need a new host at each stage of their life.

The lifecycle of Ixodes pacificus ticks generally lasts three years. During this time, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. After the eggs hatch, the ticks must have a blood meal at every stage to survive. Blacklegged ticks can feed from mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The ticks need a new host at each stage of their life.

How ticks find their hosts

Ticks find their hosts by detecting animals´ breath and body odors, or by sensing body heat, moisture, and vibrations. Some species can even recognize a shadow. In addition, ticks pick a place to wait by identifying well-used paths. Then they wait for a host, resting on the tips of grasses and shrubs. Ticks can’t fly or jump, but many tick species wait in a position known as “questing”.

While questing, ticks hold onto leaves and grass by their third and fourth pair of legs. They hold the first pair of legs outstretched, waiting to climb on to the host. When a host brushes the spot where a tick is waiting, it quickly climbs aboard. Some ticks will attach quickly and others will wander, looking for places like the ear, or other areas where the skin is thinner.

How ticks spread disease

Ticks transmit pathogens that cause disease through the process of feeding.

• Depending on the tick species and its stage of life, preparing to feed can take from 10 minutes to 2 hours. When the tick finds a feeding spot, it grasps the skin and cuts into the surface.
• The tick then inserts its feeding tube. Many species also secrete a cement-like substance that keeps them firmly attached during the meal. The feeding tube can have barbs which help keep the tick in place.
• Ticks also can secrete small amounts of saliva with anesthetic properties so that the animal or person can’t feel that the tick has attached itself. If the tick is in a sheltered spot, it can go unnoticed.
• A tick will suck the blood slowly for several days. If the host animal has a bloodborne infection, the tick will ingest the pathogens with the blood.
• Small amounts of saliva from the tick may also enter the skin of the host animal during the feeding process. If the tick contains a pathogen, the organism may be transmitted to the host animal in this way.
• After feeding, most ticks will drop off and prepare for the next life stage. At its next feeding, it can then transmit an acquired disease to the new host.

In the U.S.

In the United States, some ticks carry pathogens that can cause human disease, including:

• Anaplasmosis is transmitted to humans by tick bites primarily from the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific coast.
• Babesiosis is caused by microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells. Most human cases of babesiosis in the U.S. are caused by Babesia microti. Babesia microti is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and is found primarily in the northeast and upper midwest.
• Borrelia mayonii infection has recently been described as a cause of illness in the upper midwestern United States. It has been found in blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Borrelia mayonii is a new species and is the only species besides B. burgdorferi known to cause Lyme disease in North America.
• Borrelia miyamotoi infection has recently been described as a cause of illness in the U.S. It is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and has a range similar to that of Lyme disease.
• Bourbon virus infection has been identified in a limited number patients in the Midwest and southern United States. At this time, we do not know if the virus might be found in other areas of the United States.
• Colorado tick fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni). It occurs in the the Rocky Mountain states at elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet.
• Ehrlichiosis is transmitted to humans by the lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum), found primarily in the southcentral and eastern U.S.
• Heartland virus cases have been identified in the Midwestern and southern United States. Studies suggest that Lone Star ticks can transmit the virus. It is unknown if the virus may be found in other areas of the U.S.
• Lyme disease is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern U.S. and upper midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) along the Pacific coast.
• Powassan disease is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the groundhog tick (Ixodes cookei). Cases have been reported primarily from northeastern states and the Great Lakes region.
• Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis is transmitted to humans by the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum).
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is transmitted by the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Rocky Mountain wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sangunineus) in the U.S. The brown dog tick and other tick species are associated with RMSF in Central and South America.
• STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness) is transmitted via bites from the lone star tick (Ambylomma americanum), found in the southeastern and eastern U.S.
• Tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected soft ticks. TBRF has been reported in 15 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and is associated with sleeping in rustic cabins and vacation homes.
• Tularemia is transmitted to humans by the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni), and the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). Tularemia occurs throughout the U.S.
• 364D rickettsiosis (Rickettsia phillipi, proposed) is transmitted to humans by the Pacific Coast tick (Dermacentor occidentalis ticks). This is a new disease that has been found in California.

Outside the U.S.

This list shows the most common tickborne diseases outside the United States, but does not list every disease.

• Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is found in Eastern Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union; in northwestern China; central Asia; southern Europe; Africa; the Middle East; and the Indian subcontinent.
• Imported tickborne spotted fevers (rickettsial infections) have caused infection in returning travelers. In the U.S., the most frequently diagnosed rickettsial infection associated with international travel is caused by Rickettsia africae (the agent of African spotted fever).
• Kyasanur forest disease is found in southern India and is typically associated with exposure to ticks while harvesting forest products. Additionally, a similar virus has been described in Saudi Arabia (Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus).
• Lyme disease can be contracted in temperate forested regions throughout Europe and northern Asia, although it is more common in eastern and central Europe than western Europe. Lyme disease outside the United States is often caused by different genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and may have somewhat different symptoms. Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species that cause infection outside the United States may not be reliably detected by all tests used for Lyme disease in the United States. Providers who suspect internationally-acquired Lyme disease should use diagnostic tests that have been validated for these species.
• Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever (OHF) occurs in the western Siberia regions of Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kurgan, and Tyumen. It may be also be acquired by direct contact with infected muskrats.
• Tickborne encephalitis (TBE) virus is spread through the bite of an infected tick. Occasionally, TBE virus can spread to people through eating or drinking raw milk or cheese from infected goats, sheep, or cows.
  TBE virus can be found in parts of the region stretching from western and northern Europe through northern and eastern Asia. People who travel to these areas might be at risk for infection. TBE virus is not found in the United States. The ticks that spread TBE virus are most active in warmer months (April through November). People who spend time outdoors in or near forests are at highest risk of being bitten by a tick infected with TBE virus.

Note: Anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, tickborne relapsing fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Powassan disease can also be acquired internationally.

Many tickborne diseases can have similar signs and symptoms. If you get a tick bite and develop the symptoms below within a few weeks, see your healthcare provider.

The most common symptoms of tick-related illnesses include:

• Fever/chills. All tickborne diseases can cause fever.
• Aches and pains. Tickborne diseases can cause headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. People with Lyme disease may also have joint pain.
• Rash. Lyme disease, Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), ehrlichiosis, and tularemia can cause distinctive rashes.

Your healthcare provider should evaluate the following before deciding on a plan for treatment:

• Your symptoms,
• the geographic region where you were bitten, and
• lab tests, depending on the symptoms and the geographic region where you were bitten.

Tick paralysis is thought to be caused by a toxin in the saliva of an attached tick. People with tick paralysis can experience weakness or paralysis that gradually moves up the body. These symptoms can sometimes resemble other neurologic conditions (for example, Guillain-Barré syndrome or botulism). Patients typically regain movement within 24 hours of removing the tick.

In addition to using repellents, check for ticks and shower after being outdoors to reduce your chance of getting a tickborne disease. Get medical attention if you have a tick bite followed by a fever or rash.

Ticks Can Cause Serious Diseases

A tick bite can cause serious disease such as:

• Anaplasmosis
• Babesiosis
• Ehrlichiosis
• Lyme disease
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Southern tick-associated rash illness
• Tick-borne relapsing fever
• Tularemia

Other diseases that you can get from a tick in the United States include Colorado tick fever and Powassan virus infection.

Before You Go Outdoors

• Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, or even on animals, so spending time outside camping, gardening, or hunting could bring you in close contact with ticks. Many people get ticks in their own yard or neighborhood.
• Treat clothing and gear with products containing permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing, and camping gear and remain protective through several washings.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful search tool can help you find the product that best suits your needs. Always follow product instructions, especially with children.
  • Do not use insect repellent on babies younger than 2 months old.
  • Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children under 3 years old.

After You Come Indoors

• Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may attach to clothing. Remove any ticks and wash clothes or put them in dryer if damp. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, you may need to dry them longer. When washing clothes first, use hot water. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks effectively.
• Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check when coming from potentially tick-infested areas, even your back yard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check you and your children for ticks after coming indoors.
• Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tickborne diseases. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.

What to Do if You Find an Attached Tick

Remove the attached tick as soon as you notice it. Grasp the tick with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible, and pull it straight out.

Watch for signs of sickness such as rash or fever in the days and weeks following the bite. Your risk of getting a tickborne disease depends on many factors, including where you live, the type of tick that bit you, and how long the tick was attached. Be sure to see a health care provider if you become sick after a tick bite, have a rash or a fever.

Reduce Ticks in Your Yard

• Modify your landscape to create tick-safe zones. Similar steps may also help reduce other types of ticks in and around the yard. Remove leaf litter and clear tall grasses and brush around homes regularly. Place wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas to keep ticks away from recreational areas. Keep play areas and playground equipment away from shrubs, bushes, and other vegetation.
• Consider using a chemical control agent. Tick control chemicals are effective for a homeowner to use, or they can be applied by a professional pest control expert.
• Discourage deer. Remove plants that attract deer and construct physical barriers to help discourage deer from entering your yard and bringing blacklegged ticks with them.

Prevent Ticks on Pets

Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tickborne diseases. Vaccines are not available for most of the tickborne diseases that dogs can get, and they don’t keep the dogs from bringing ticks into your home. For these reasons, it’s important to use a tick preventive product on your dog. Talk to your veterinarian about the best tick prevention product for your dog.

Tick exposure can occur year-round, but ticks are most active during warmer months (April-September).

Before You Go Outdoors

• Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, or even on animals. Spending time outside walking your dog, camping, gardening, or hunting could bring you in close contact with ticks. Many people get ticks in their own yard or neighborhood.
• Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings. Alternatively, you can buy permethrin-treated clothing and gear.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful can help you find the product that best suits your needs. Always follow product instructions. Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children under 3 years old.
• Avoid Contact with Ticks
  • Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
  • Walk in the center of trails.

After You Come Indoors

Check your clothing for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing. Any ticks that are found should be removed. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors. If the clothes are damp, additional time may be needed. If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks.

Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and daypacks.

Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease and may be effective in reducing the risk of other tickborne diseases. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.

Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas, including your own backyard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:

• Under the arms
• In and around the ears
• Inside belly button
• Back of the knees
• In and around the hair
• Between the legs
• Around the waist

Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tickborne diseases. Vaccines are not available for most of the tickborne diseases that dogs can get, and they don’t keep the dogs from bringing ticks into your home. For these reasons, it’s important to use a tick preventive product on your dog.

Tick bites on dogs may be hard to detect. Signs of tickborne disease may not appear for 7-21 days or longer after a tick bite, so watch your dog closely for changes in behavior or appetite if you suspect that your pet has been bitten by a tick.

Talk to your veterinarian about:

• The best tick prevention products for your dog
• Tickborne diseases in your area

To further reduce the chances that a tick bite will make your dog sick:

• Check your pets for ticks daily, especially after they spend time outdoors.
• If you find a tick on your pet, remove it right away.
• Reduce tick habitat in your yard.

Note: Cats are extremely sensitive to a variety of chemicals. Do not apply any tick prevention products to your cats without first asking your veterinarian!

Apply Pesticides Outdoors to Control Ticks

Use of pesticides can reduce the number of ticks in treated areas of your yard. However, you should not rely on spraying to reduce your risk of infection.

When using pesticides, always follow label instructions. Before spraying, check with local health or agricultural officials about:

• The best time to apply pesticide in your area
• The best type of pesticide to use
• Rules and regulations regarding pesticide application on residential properties

Create a Tick-safe Zone to Reduce Blacklegged Ticks in the Yard

Here are some simple landscaping techniques that can help reduce blacklegged tick populations:

• Remove leaf litter.
• Clear tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edge of lawns.
• Place a 3-ft wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas to restrict tick migration into recreational areas.
• Mow the lawn frequently.
• Stack wood neatly and in a dry area (discourages rodents).
• Keep playground equipment, decks, and patios away from yard edges and trees.
• Discourage unwelcome animals (such as deer, raccoons, and stray dogs) from entering your yard by constructing fences.
• Remove old furniture, mattresses, or trash from the yard that may give ticks a place to hide.

If you find a tick attached to your skin, simply remove the tick as soon as possible. There are several tick removal devices on the market, but a plain set of fine-tipped tweezers works very well.

How to remove a tick

1. Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you cannot remove the mouth easily with tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
4. Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by
   • Putting it in alcohol,
   • Placing it in a sealed bag/container,
   • Wrapping it tightly in tape, or
   • Flushing it down the toilet.

Follow-up

If you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick, see your doctor:

• Tell the doctor about your recent tick bite,
• When the bite occurred, and
• Where you most likely acquired the tick.

Testing of ticks

People who have removed a tick sometimes wonder if they should have it tested for evidence of infection. Although some commercial groups offer testing, in general this is not recommended because:

• Laboratories that conduct tick testing are not required to have the high standards of quality control used by clinical diagnostic laboratories. Results of tick testing should not be used for treatment decisions.
• Positive results showing that the tick contains a disease-causing organism do not necessarily mean that you have been infected.
• Negative results can lead to false assurance. You may have been unknowingly bitten by a different tick that was infected.
• If you have been infected, you will probably develop symptoms before results of the tick test are available. If you do become ill, you should not wait for tick testing results before beginning appropriate treatment.

However, you may want to learn to identify various ticks. Different ticks live in different parts of the country and transmit different diseases.

Avoid folklore remedies such as “painting” the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat to make the tick detach from the skin. Your goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible–not waiting for it to detach.

Removing a tick can be tricky. We've compiled a list of helpful tips for you to follow with information from MedlinePlus and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

1. Use fine-tuned tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouthparts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
4. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in rubbing alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.
5. Follow-up. If you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick, see your doctor. Be sure to tell the doctor about your recent tick bite, when the bite occurred, and where you were.

Ticks can carry germs that can make you sick. Protect yourself, your family, and your pets from tick bites this hunting season.

Ticks can carry germs that cause serious and sometimes deadly diseases like tularemia, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Lyme disease. While most tickborne infections occur during the summer, ticks may still be active well into the fall, or even year-round in warmer climates. Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, and on animals themselves, so hunting will bring you in close contact with ticks. Take the proper precautions this hunting season to keep you and your pets healthy.

Prevent Tick Bites

There are currently no vaccines to prevent tickborne disease in the United States, so avoiding tick bites and is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your pets.

Before the Hunt

• Treat gear and clothing with products containing 0.5% permethrin. Products containing permethrin kill ticks. Permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear and remain protective through several washings.
• Use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA’s helpful search tool can help you find the product that best suits your needs.
• Treat dogs for ticks. Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tickborne disease. Treat dogs regularly with tick prevention products. Talk to your veterinarian about the best product for your dog.
• Tuck your pants into your boots or socks and tuck your shirt into your pants to prevent ticks from crawling inside clothing.

During the Hunt

• Walk in the center of trails, when possible, to avoid brushing up against ticks.
• Wear gloves when dressing or butcheringgame and wash hands thoroughly afterwards.  Animals can carry diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, and rabies. People can become exposed while handling infected animal tissue.

After the Hunt

• Shower immediately after being outdoors. Showering may help remove unattached ticks.
• Check your body for ticks daily, when spending time in tick areas. Perform a full body check to look for ticks. Use a mirror, or have someone help you with hard-to-see areas.
• Check dogs for ticks after returning home. The most common location for ticks on dogs include the ears, around the eyes, between the legs, around the tail, and between the toes.
• Remove any attached ticks from people or pets immediately. There are several tick removal devices on the market, but a plain set of fine-tipped tweezers works very well. To remove a tick, grasp it with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible, and pull it straight out. Do not twist or jerk. For detailed information about tick removal, see the tick removal page.

Watch for fever, rash, or flu-like illness in people and pets in the weeks following tick exposure, even if you don’t remember being bitten by a tick.

Tickborne Diseases in the United States

Ticks can carry a wide range of germs that can make you or your pet sick. Thousands of cases of tickborne disease occur every year in the United States. Illnesses can range from very mild to deadly. See your doctor right away if you develop a fever, rash, or flu-like illness following contact with ticks. Remember, many tickborne diseases can be effectively treated if recognized early. Be sure to mention to your doctor any history of tick bites or outdoor activities where you might have been exposed to ticks.

Note: Most tickborne diseases are spread through the bite of an infected tick. However, the bacteria that cause tularemia can be spread through the bites of ticks and deer flies or during contact with infected animals and their carcasses. For hunters, this commonly occurs when skinning or processing infected animals including rabbits, muskrats, prairie dogs, and other rodents. Gloves should be worn when handling any sick or dead animal. Hunting dogs can also get tularemia if they’ve been in contact with infected game. If your dog develops a fever, becomes depressed, or loses its appetite, see your veterinarian immediately.

Remember…on your next hunt, target the tick

• Treat your clothing with permethrin
• Tuck your pants into your boots or socks
• Shower after returning from the outdoors
• Check for ticks daily
• If you develop a fever or rash, see your doctor immediately

Warm weather might make you want to get outdoors and enjoy walks in the woods, picnics, gardening, and more. But tiny ticks also emerge when temperatures rise. And they can take a big bite out of warm-weather fun.

Bites from infected ticks are responsible for about a half-million new illnesses each year in the U.S. And those numbers are rising. Lyme disease is by far the most common. It accounts for more than 80% of tickborne illnesses nationwide. Other tick-related diseases include babesiosis, tularemia, and anaplasmosis.

Symptoms of these infections can range from mild rashes and discomfort to long-lasting health problems. Some tick bites have been linked to a severe allergy to red meat.

There is good news, though—you can take steps to keep ticks from making you sick. And NIH-supported scientists are looking for better ways to diagnose, treat, and prevent tick-related illnesses.

Risks From Ticks

The chance that you’ll get sick from an infected tick mostly depends on where you live. Different types of ticks live in different parts of the country. Each type can pass on the germs that cause different diseases. Nationwide, more than 17 human diseases are known to be caused by at least nine kinds of ticks. And all these ticks are moving into new regions.

“As the climate warms and changes, it’s likely that we’ll see more tickborne diseases in more locations,” says Dr. Erol Fikrig, an expert in tick-related diseases at Yale University. He and his colleagues are working to better understand the relationships between ticks, the germs they carry, and the animals they infect.

Ticks might seem easy to avoid. They can’t fly or jump. But they can detect heat, breath, and other signals from warm-blooded creatures. Ticks need blood to develop and to produce eggs. To find meals, they often cling to the tips of grass blades or leaves with their back legs. They wave their front legs if they sense that you or another potential victim is nearby. If you brush against a tick, it can climb on and look for a patch of skin to bite.

Once a tick digs into the skin and starts sucking blood, any germs it carries can enter its victim. But it can take a couple of hours for a tick to choose a spot and begin feeding.

“If you catch and remove a tick early, and it has not yet taken a full blood meal, your chance of getting an infection is greatly reduced,” Fikrig says. If you don’t remove a tick, it can stay attached for several days. As it slowly fills with blood, the tick may swell in size by 10 times or more.

All known tickborne diseases can cause fever. Other common symptoms include headache, fatigue, and achy muscles. Some diseases can cause distinctive rashes. Lyme disease, for example, often causes an expanding rash that looks like a bull’s-eye. Ehrlichiosis, tularemia, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever can also cause rashes.

Unusual Meat Allergy

Most tick-related illnesses are caused by infections. But over a decade ago, NIH-supported researchers found that certain tick bites might instead lead to a food allergy. The condition is called alpha-gal syndrome (AGS). The allergy is to a sugar molecule called alpha-gal that is found in red meat.

“This includes beef, pork, lamb, venison, rabbit, and even the products from these animals, such as milk and dairy,” says Dr. Scott Commins, an allergist at the University of North Carolina. He worked with the research team that identified the link between red meat allergy and the bite of the lone star tick.

“AGS can cause hives, itching, swelling, shortness of breath, or gastrointestinal distress after eating red meat,” Commins says. AGS can sometimes lead to a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, which can be deadly without emergency care. So affected people must avoid eating red meats.

Most food allergies cause symptoms several minutes after eating. But AGS symptoms tend to appear three to six hours after eating red meat. This delayed reaction can make it hard to realize that red meat is to blame. Scientists don’t yet understand how the bite of a tick can lead to this allergy.

AGS is relatively rare, but its numbers are rising as the lone star tick spreads to new areas. Today, this tick is found widely from Texas to New England.

“On a positive note, there’s pretty good evidence that over time, the allergy can go away in some people,” Commins says. “We think that avoiding tick bites is key.” A simple blood test can show whether a person still has AGS.

Blocking Tickborne Illness

Even though tick-related diseases are becoming more common, you can still enjoy the outdoors if you take some precautions.

“You don’t need to be afraid of ticks,” says Dr. Sam Telford, a tick disease researcher at Tufts University. “Depending on where you live, most tick bites don’t necessarily carry an infection. And even if they do, if you remove the tick promptly—by taking a shower, feeling for ticks, or looking for them—you will greatly reduce your risk.”

To provide even more protection, NIH supports several lines of research that aim to block tick-related illness. Telford and colleagues are focused on stopping the spread of tickborne infections in the wild. They’re testing different ways to keep the disease-causing germs from infecting small creatures that ticks love to bite, like mice.

“The idea is that if you target mice, they will no longer pass infections to ticks. And then presumably there will be fewer infected ticks in the environment to infect humans,” Telford explains.

Fikrig and colleagues are working to create a new type of vaccine that keeps ticks from attaching to the skin long enough to transmit disease-causing germs. Their experimental vaccine has been shown to prevent Lyme disease in animals. They are testing to see if this approach can block other types of tickborne infections.

Fikrig notes that many tick-related diseases can be effectively treated if caught early. “If you’ve been in an area where ticks are common and you develop a fever, it’s possible that you had a tick bite but just didn’t realize it,” he says. “You should seek medical attention to get advice. Early medical attention is always the best.”

Block Tick Bites

When outside:

• Treat clothing and gear with products containing permethrin.
• Use insect repellents as directed. Find effective ones from the EPA.
• Avoid areas where ticks hide, including high grass and leaf litter.

When back indoors:

• Change your clothes when you come inside. Wash the clothes you used outdoors in hot water.
• Check your whole body for ticks. Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed. Remove ticks with tweezers. Pull upward with steady, even pressure.
• Shower within two hours after coming indoors, to wash away ticks before they latch on.

Adapted from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention