Keep ticks at bay

A CAMPAIGN has been launched across Europe to raise awareness of the danger to humans of tick borne diseases.

Many people who head to France know that their pets face real danger if bitten by a tick, but few know that the bugs can cause terrible illness to them as well.

An expert panel has produced the tick-victims.info website that offers advice and information to both protect yourself and how to deal with the situation if you are bitten by a tick.

The campaign is particularly focussed on tick-borne encephalitis, with areas of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic facing particular problems, but as more people travel around Europe the risk of infection grows.

Professor Michael Kunze, of the Institute for Social Medicine in Vienna, said: “With tourism within Europe increasing, we still realize that there is an amazing ignorance and lack of awareness among the public in most European countries.”

The European campaign intends to raise awareness of vaccination programmes as well as make people aware of the steps they can take to protect themselves.

Prevention Tips:
Wear light-coloured clothing that shows ticks easily and covers arms and legs. Wear long-sleeved shirts, tight at the wrists, long pants tight at the ankles and tucked into socks, and shoes covering the whole foot.

Apply diethyltoluamide (e.g., DEET) to skin and permethrin to clothing. But do not apply it to clothing while it is being worn, and allow the clothing to thoroughly dry before wearing.

Perform daily checks of skin for ticks. Check children two to three times a day. Check under waistbands, sock tops, under arms, and any other moist areas.

Remove ticks by using fine-tipped tweezers. Grasp the tick firmly and as closely to the skin as possible. Use a steady motion, pull the tick’s body away from the skin without rotation. If parts of the tick remain stuck in the skin, they should be removed as soon as possible.

Suffocating the tick with oil, cream etc. may induce injection of more infectious material into the body, so do not use petroleum jelly, burning matches or cigarette ends, nail polish or other products.

Related article:
Cut the risk of pet diseases

What advice would you give people to keep ticks at bay? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Comments

[Malcolm Lees]

the tick problem, in the vineyards and also in the garden, is par-tick-ularly bad here in the Herault this year. Even with Front-line applied ticks still make an attempt to embed themselves. When this uccurs I use a little ether on a pad to make sure that the head and mouth part are removed completly, a bottle of ether can be obtained at any chemist.
Malcolm

[lindsey nash]

Horses face the same dangers from tick-borne disease as dogs and humans. I live in a very wooded area with a high deer population and the problem seems to be worse year on year. Horses should be checked twice a day, particularly in thin skinned areas such as under the jaw, chest, groin, under elbows etc. I regularly find 6-8 ticks of all sizes each day on my horses, but the smallest will take a little practise to find so take your time. I use tea tree oil on the would after extraction with a Tire-Tic (available from pharmacies). I have been recommended to use Butox by a vet, a product normally used on cattle, so check with your own vet the appropriate dilution rate for horses. It should be applied with a spray and protective mask and gloves should be worn.