End of Summer, College Football, and Ticks

Labor Day lettering with wrenchThis weekend is Labor Day weekend, that last weekend of summer (in a way). Or, for many of us, it is now the first weekend of college football!! We will be spending time with friends outside, as well as inside (watching a particular night game on Sunday evening), enjoying this collision of things we love.

Even though it is getting away from summer we still need to be cautious about ticks.

From the USDA:

Ticks are a nuisance.ย  No one wants anything on their body that drinks their blood or โ€“ worse than that โ€“ also give you a disease.ย  Most people are familiar with Lyme disease, but not the many other equally serious diseases that ticks carry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now lists 14 diseases that ticks in the United States can transmit and cause human disease.ย  The CDC website also has regional distribution maps with pictures of the ticks that carry these diseases and where in the nation they are most like to be.

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What can you do to avoid ticks and the risk of diseases they carry for the rest of this summer? The CDC hasย suggestionsย on steps everyone can take to avoid ticks on themselves, their pets, and in their yards.ย  Here are a few things you can do:

  • Learn what ticks and tick diseases are common in the area where you live or where you are going on vacation.
  • Avoid direct contact with areas where ticks are normally found, such as wooded areas with bushes and high grass, weeds, and leaf litter.
  • If in areas with ticks, frequently give yourself full-body checks for ticks.ย  If you find a tick remove it immediately andย correctly.
  • Consider using tick repellents on clothing. ย You can effectively treat boots, pants, shirts, socks, and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
  • Keep yourself informed about ticks and diseases caused by ticks.

American Football ready for kickoffSo as you are out and about this weekend ending the summer with some fun or cheering on your favorite college football team (cough: Go Vols!) keep your family safe from ticks in this last stretch of their peak season.

June & July Worst Month for Ticks in Tennessee

The Crossville Chronicle reported last week on why June and July are such fun months for ticks in Tennessee.

Map of the united states with states highlighted to show american dog tick habitat - keep ticks away from your home with Johnson Pest Control in TN

Lyme disease, which is spread by black legged ticks (also called deer ticks or bear ticks), is rare in Tennessee, despite being the most common tick-borne disease in the United States. Here most reported cases of human infection are Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) and Ehrlichiosis. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is the source of those diseases. (Lone star ticks are reddish brown in color with a white or light-colored spot on the back and a long snout.)

However, tick species-ranges are expanding, which has made effective treatment more difficult in recent years. Tick-borne illnesses now show up in areas where they were not previously found. Babesiosis, a problem caused by microscopic parasites attacking red blood cells, was not reported in Tennessee prior to 2009. Also, ticks are now more commonly found to be carrying (and transmitting) not just one but multiple diseases.

Tick activity starts when temperatures warm in spring and lasts until fall. In Tennessee, June and July have the most reports of tick transmitted infections. Tick numbers (and incidents of tick-borne illnesses) normally drop when the weather turns really hot and dry in summertime. However, tick levels stay higher than normal later in the season during years with plentiful summer rainfall and high humidity (like 2014).