Tick/Lyme Information

• Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy, bushy or wooded areas, or even on animals.

• Teat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin

• Use insect repellant with DEET or similar products

• Once you come inside check your clothing, pets and body for ticks. Take a shower.

• Be sure to check these parts of your body:

under the arms

in and around the ears

inside belly button

back of the knees

in and around the hair

between the legs

around the waist.

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; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.

3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

4. Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by putting it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.

Ticks can attach to any part of the human body but are often found in hard-to-see areas such as the groin, armpits, and scalp. In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.

Early Signs (3-30 days after tick bite)

• Fever

• chills

• headache

• fatigue

• muscle

• joint aches

• "bulls eye" rash

Later Symptoms

• Severe headache and neck stiffness

• rashes

• loss of muscle tone or droop on one or both side of the face

• nerve pain

If you believe you have lyme disease you need to see a doctor. People treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of Lyme disease usually recover rapidly and completely.