- The ARC - California Edition -

The Tick

It is quite amazing that a little tiny tick, about the size of the head of a pin, can carry with its bite potentially incapacitating disease. We all have heard about Lyme Disease which includes a frightening collection of symptoms, but this "new discovery" is only one of numerous diseases which a tick is capable of carrying. In addition to Lyme Disease, which was first formally recognized less than 25 years ago, ticks are known to carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, encephalitis, tularemia, tick paralysis, and quite a few other very serious infections.

Two previously unknown tick-borne diseases, human monocytic erhlichiosis, and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, have been discovered within the past ten years.

With eight legs instead of six, the tick is a cousin to the spider and is not an insect. Like the mosquito and flea, the tick is also usually looking for a feast of blood. But unlike the flea, the tick is a sluggish mover, and some varieties of ticks take days to complete their meal. In this process, a disease-infected tick may leave behind various bacteria in your bloodstream.

Prevention strategies — There current is not an approved vaccine for most of the tick-borne diseases. The best strategies for prevention are:

Reduce the number of infected ticks,

Reduce the places where ticks are able to transfer to humans or domestic animals,

Remove any ticks from body following exposure to tick-infested areas.