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Environmental Health and Safety

SAFETY GUIDES

SAFETY GUIDE :

PREVENT TICK-BORNE DISEASES

 

Some ticks carry pathogens that can cause human disease, including but not limited to Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Tickborne diseases can result in mild symptoms, including fever/chills, aches and pains (headache, fatigue, and muscle aches) and a rash, treatable at home to severe infections requiring hospitalization. 

Tick Types

Types of Ticks

                  1                                            2                                             3                                            4                                            5

  1. Lone Star Tick: Transmits Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii (which cause human ehrlichiosis), tularemia, and STARI.
  2. Gulf Coast Tick*: Transmits Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis, a form of spotted fever.
  3. Brown Dog Tick: Transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever (in the southwestern U.S. and along the U.S.-Mexico border).
  4. American Dog Tick: Transmits Tularemia and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
  5. Black Legged (Deer) Tick: Transmits Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan disease.  

* Found mostly in coastal areas of the U.S. along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. 

 

Tick Size Chart

Tick Sizing Chart

 

How to Remove a Tick

Tick Removal

 

  1. Use 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.
  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 submersing it in 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. 

 

Preventing Tick Bites

Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks
 • Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.  

Repel Ticks with DEET or Permethrin
• Use repellents that contain 20 to 30% DEET
• Use products that contain permethrin on clothing.  

Find and Remove Ticks from Your Body
• Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors
• Conduct a full-body tick check
• Examine clothing, gear and pets.
• Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes 

 

For more information:  www.cdc.gov/ticks

 

Environmental Health & Safety – Division of Enterprise Risk Management

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