Prevention
- Ticks are most active in spring–summer (April–September)
- Avoid walking in woody or bushy areas, or in tall grass, walk in the center of trails to avoid touching the braches and leaves.
- Ticks will wait on the ends of leaves for a host to come by and brush where they are standing.
- Use products with no more than 30% DEET in them for your skin when you are in areas that could have ticks and use permithrin on clothing and gear. Make sure to follow all directions on the bottle.
- Wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. Tuck the pant legs into your socks or boots.
- Wear light color clothing, this will allow you to see ticks easier if one is on your clothing.
- Check your entire body for ticks, especially the in the hair and at the hairline, in the ears, underarms, behind the knees, in the groin area.
- Check pets and gear.
- Shower or bathe soon after you come inside.
- Tumble dry clothes on high heat for an hour to kill any ticks that may be on your clothes.
- To remove a tick from your skin use a pair of clean fine-tipped tweezers, grab the tick as close to the skin as possible. Pull the tick upwards at a steady pace. This prevents the mouth parts from breaking off and staying in your skin. If the mouth parts do break off, clean the tweezers and attempt to remove the mouth parts. If you can not remove the parts just leave them in. Clean the bitten area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
General Information about Ticks
Life Cycle
- Egg – The first stage is when the tick is still an egg.
- Larva – The second stage begins when the eggs hatch and become larvae. This is the first stage where the tick will need to have blood for food. The larvae will feed on small animals, such as birds and rodents.
- Nymph – In the nymph stage the ticks will choose another host, which will range from small to large animals. They could feed on humans or their pets at this stage.
- Adult – The final stage is adulthood. They will feed on a different animal, generally medium to large animals, this does include humans.
Feeding
If the tick feeds on an infected animal it will carry the disease and transmit it to its next host. The tick will get it from the blood and transmit it through its saliva when it bites its host. The saliva has anesthetic properties, which causes the host to not notice the bite. Most people who report tick-borne diseases say that they do not remember being bitten.
Tick-borne Diseases in Arkansas
There are 4 different tick-borne diseases that are in Arkansas:
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is normally spread by the American Dog Tick but it can also be spread by the Brown Dog Tick. Some symptoms are:
- fever
- headache
- muscle pain
- abdominal pain
- nausea
- vomiting
- rash
The symptoms start 2-14 days after the bite. The rash will start on the hands and feet and more towards the middle of the body. This is a serious disease and can be deadly if not treated. Further information can be found on the CDC’s website.
Anaplasmosis is spread by the blacklegged tick. The symptoms include:
- fever
- headache
- muscle pain
- general discomfort
- chills
- nausea/abdominal pain
- cough
- confusion
- rash (although it is rare)
Symptoms start 1-2 weeks after the bite. This is a serious disease and can be deadly if not treated. Further information can be found at the CDC’s website.
Ehrlichiosis is spread by the lone star tick Symptoms include:
- fever
- headache
- fatigue
- muscle aches
- chills
- nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
- confusion
- rash (children are more likely to get a rash than adults)
This is a serious disease and can be deadly if not treated. Further information can be found on the CDC’s website.
Tularemia is spread by many types of ticks and deer fly bites, as well as 
by rabbits and rodents. General symptoms are:
- fever
- chills
- nausea
- body aches
Tularemia can affect many parts of the body. If you are bit by a tick or a fly you will most likely have an ulcer on the skin, there is also swelling of the lymph glands in the armpit or groin. When it gets into the body through the eye its symptoms are irritation and inflammation of the eye and swelling of the lymph glands in front of the ear. When it is introduced through contaminated food or drink its symptoms are sore throat, mouth ulcers, swollen tonsils, and swelling of the lymph glands in the neck. If air particles are breathed in that have the bacteria in them it can cause pneumonic tularemia, which is the most serious form. Its symptoms are chest pain, cough, trouble breathing and pneumonia.
If you experience any of these symptoms go see your primary care doctor.
Ticks in Arkansas
According to the CDC these are possible ticks that could be in Arkansas (http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html)
- American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis) – mostly spreads Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It can also spread tularemia. These ticks like to feed on dogs and other medium sized mammals, but the will also feed on humans.
- Blacklegged Tick (deer tick) (Ixodes scapularis) – spreads anaplasmosis. Can spread Lyme disease in parts of the country, but they do not feed on infected animals (rodents) in Arkansas, which is why there isn’t Lyme disease in Arkansas. Adults feed on large animals and will sometimes feed on humans.
- Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) – spreads Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Arkansas. Dogs are the main host for these ticks.
- Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma maculatum) – can spread ehrlichiosis and tularemia. The white-tailed deer is the main host for these ticks.