Category: Deer ticks

Middlesex County: A Babesiosis Hot Spot?

LymeDiseaseCyclebyTickEncounterYou most definitely know what Lyme disease is if you live in Central Massachusetts. Transmitted by deer ticks, you may not have experienced Lyme directly, but the epidemic proportion to which this disease exists within our area has created broad public awareness.

What you may not be aware of are the other tick-borne diseases that are transmitted in Middlesex County and Worcester County. Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Powassan Virus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever to name a few.

Babesiosis in Middlesex County Mass

Among the plethora of tick-borne diseases spread by deer ticks is Babesiosis. While relatively rare, this disease is mostly found in the Northeastern and the Midwestern United States. So much so, that the CDC reports 95% of Babesiosis cases in the US in 2013 occurred in only seven states; including Massachusetts. While Massachusetts reached an all-time high with 520 confirmed and probable cases of Babesiosis in 2014, we still have had a large number of cases of Babesiosis in 2015 with 445 confirmed and probable. Middlesex County was among the top 5 counties in the state with 65 cases of Babesiosis in 2015.

While there is some growth in awareness of Babesiosis in our area, there is a great deal of important data the public needs to be reminded of to help prevent Babesiosis and recognize it. Disclaimer before reading further: anyone can become sick from Babesiosis during any month of the year.

Seasonality of Babesiosis in Central Massachusetts

Tick-borne diseases have a predictable peak season due to the tick life cycle. For most tick-borne diseases, larval and nymph ticks have to have their first blood meal to become infected. The known exception is Borrelia Miyamotoi which can be passed from a tick mother to her offspring. For Babesiosis, this first blood meal is essential to becoming infected, making June, July, and August more common for the spread of the disease than other months of the year.

2015 Babesiosis by Month 2015
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Health Dangers of Babesiosis

Babesiosis is a parasite transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected deer tick. Many people who have Babesiosis feel fine and have no symptoms. Others experience flu-like illness or severe, life-threatening illness if Babesiosis infects the red blood cells. The variety of symptoms felt can also be tricky, Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported the symptoms of 2015 Massachusetts’ cases as:

  • 72% fatigue
  • 68% fever
  • 58% depression
  • 50% muscle aches
  • 49% chills

Babesiosis is Discriminatory

While anyone can become ill from Babesiosis, clinical illness from Babesiosis is more common among a certain portion of the population. Those age 60 or older are at the greatest risk for clinical disease. Also, those without a spleen, weakened immune system, or those with other serious health issues such as liver or kidney disease. Note the chart below; there is a clear age discrimination for the onset of clinical illness from Babesiosis in Massachusetts 2015 cases. If you are within this high-risk category, you should be taking extra precautions to avoid deer ticks, especially during the peak seasons as shown above.

2015 Babesiosis mass
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

I am committed to providing you the best most up-to-date information on the threat of tick-borne diseases in Central Mass. Stay tuned for the latest on ticks in the area. Be sure to follow the 6 C’s tick control to make certain your yard is not inadvertently attracting ticks.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Ticks in Massachusetts will do anything but jump to get their next blood meal

can-tick-jump-on-my-head-central-massTicks in Massachusetts, such as deer ticks are fascinatingly smart about how they find their next food source.  They don’t crawl, jump, or fly for their survival.  They don’t have to!

They don’t crawl into your Central Mass home, sneak into your bed and wait for you at night. They don’t climb above your swing set and jump on your children’s heads as they swing. And they don’t jump from trees or vegetation if you walk near them. Ticks in Massachusetts waste no energy, but lay in wait for the perfect host to just brush on by them.

What is questing?

Questing is what a tick does when it needs a new host for its next blood meal. The deer tick will climb to the very tip of a blade of grass, a leaf of a shrub or a plant stem. Hanging on with their third and fourth pairs of legs, the tick will stretch out its first pair waiting to grab onto any host that brushes by. When this happens they use those front legs to grab ahold. Once there, they quickly climb upwards to find a dark, moist hidden place to latch on for a blood meal.

How high do deer ticks quest?

ticks in MassachusettsIn normal conditions a deer tick will climb vegetation that is the perfect height to grab a hold of the host they are after. For instance, when a tick is in the larva stage they prefer small rodents and will choose to quest in the low vegetation and underbrush where those critters have left evidence of past travels. Nymph (teenage) and adult ticks will find taller vegetation, up to knee height so that they can grab a hold of bigger mammals and human hosts who brush by. Ticks do not normally climb higher than knee height, nor do they jump down on your head from a tree branch. The reason you find a tick on your head or neck is either 1.) you were bent down, sitting or lying in a place where they were able to climb on or 2.) (most likely) they latched on at knee level or lower and quickly climbed upward.

Unpredictable tick infestation behavior

While ticks normally do prefer cool shady places that are low to the ground for their questing, there are some definite variations in their behavior. When ticks get to the infestation levels they are currently at in Central Massachusetts some abnormal questing behavior can be observed. I’ve seen ticks on hot black top in the blazing sun, I’ve seen them climbing up the side of a house and will continue to see these abnormalities as long as the tick population remains at this high infestation level.

The good news is ticks won’t live long out in the sun where the humidity is low. The bad news is they might find their way to you in unpredictable new ways. Finding you means biting you, and that could result in Lyme Disease. Eliminating ticks on your property to lower your exposure is the best way to protect your family and pets from dangerous tick-borne disease, such as Lyme disease.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Central Mass tick control enthusiast

With a traditional tick control barrier spray ticks and mosquitoes are eliminated on contact. With the addition of tick tubes the tick life cycle is interrupted by eliminating tick nymphs before they become adults looking for a deer or human host.

Also read: Do ticks borrow completely under your skin?

Fall Is The Best Time To Eliminate Ticks And Mosquitoes in MA

Summer is officially over, kids are back in school, winter is coming, so it’s time to think about Thanksgiving and forget about ticks and mosquitoes, right?  Not exactly.  Mosquito and tick protection is a year-round concern!

Ticks and mosquitoes are doing their own planning.  In short, they’re planning to be in your yard next spring in even larger numbers.  Now is the best time to eliminate ticks and mosquitoes.  Here’s why.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know by now that October and November are  breeding season for Asian Tiger Mosquito ticks.  Mosquitoes breed on average every 4 weeks during their 2-3 month life cycle.  Cold weather will kill off a few species but most mosquitoes will simply go dormant in cold weather.  Eggs laid this fall won’t hatch until next spring when the weather warms.

Blacklegged ticks are most responsible for Lyme Disease and are commonly called Deer Ticks for a reason.  Now is the time of year female ticks hitch a ride and drink a blood meal necessary to make eggs.  The white-tailed deer is the best resource to provide that last blood meal.  They are large enough to supply fully-grown ticks with the necessary blood meal they need to lay eggs.  The eggs laid this fall will hatch next spring into larvae.  The male ticks don’t need a blood meal since their life is over as adults but they hitch a ride on the deer to simply mate with the females.  One deer can nourish thousands of female ticks with their last blood meal before they lay their eggs.

The females will leave most of these tick eggs in the nests of white – footed mice.  These mice we must continue to eliminate ticks in the fallare prevalent around Central Mass homes and in every state where Lyme Disease is endemic.  The newly hatched eggs will become larvae in the spring.  The larvae ticks will need a blood meal to move onto the nymph stage later in the spring.  Their first blood meal is often taken from the mouse that provided them a home during the winter.

As for female mosquitoes, they will deposit their eggs in damp soil, tree knotholes and anywhere that spring rains will allow the eggs to hatch when the weather turns warm.  Like ticks, cold will not kill mosquito eggs.  Predation is their main enemy but there are few bugs or other insects out during the winter, so few eggs will be eliminated.

By eliminating adult ticks and mosquitoes in the fall, you can reduce their numbers in your yard next spring and summer.  October and November are the peak months for female ticks to get their last blood meal and lay their eggs.  You can learn more about the tick life cycle at the American Lyme Disease Foundation website discussing Deer Tick Ecology.

Even if you’re not currently using a tick and mosquito perimeter spray, you can still reduce ticks in your yard next spring.  A tick tube program is a highly effective method for eliminating the tick population in your yard before spring.  It is specifically designed to eliminate nymph ticks now that will be adults late next summer.  A one-time application a barrier spray now will reduce the adult population of both insects, thereby reducing the number of eggs they can lay in or near your yard.  Now is the best time to begin protecting your family and pets from infectious bites next spring.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Westminster Tick Control – Break the 2-Year Life Cycle of Ticks

You might think the fall is the end of tick season and that you will soon be protected from tick Westminster tick controlbites with the approaching colder weather.  If so, you are partially correct.

Ticks in Central Mass will begin to go dormant in weather below 45 degrees F. by hiding in the nests of white-footed mice.  No amount of cold will eliminate ticks and there’s one other fact you need to know about the fall and ticks.

A tick’s life cycle is usually 2-years long.  Ticks that were eggs last fall are now nymphs.  They have taken two blood meals to reach this stage in their life cycle.  Because of these two blood meals, often taken from several small animals or birds infected with Lyme Disease, they are now the most infectious to humans.  Next spring these nymphs will leave the mouse’s nest.  They will be the size of a poppy seed, making them difficult to see on our Westminster MA tick controlclothes and skin.  After their third blood meal next spring, they will become larger during mid-summer and be adults in the fall of next year.  At this last stage of their life cycle, the males will fertilize the females and the females will produce a new generation of ticks in your yard.

Westminster tick control is available now, to protect you next year.

Now is the time of year to interrupt the tick’s life cycle in your yard and reduce your exposure to nymph ticks next spring.  By using a tick tube program, you can eliminate ticks around your home even before next spring.  The tick tubes are placed out now will provide nesting material, treated with tick insecticide, the white-footed mouse will use to build its nest this winter.  This nesting material will eliminate ticks in the nest without harming the mice.  The net result is fewer ticks in your yard next spring and a head start at eliminating your family’s exposure to ticks all summer long.

When you sign up for Westminster tick control spray treatments next summer, it will eliminate tick control in Westminster MA85-90% of the ticks in your yard all summer long.  Treatments are scheduled at your convenience every 21 days.  The spray will eliminate newly hatched ticks, nymph ticks and adult ticks in your yard.  Ticks brought into your yard by any animals such as squirrels, raccoons, fox and deer will be eliminated by the spray.  Using the tick tube program now and the barrier spray next spring through next fall will reduce your exposure to tick-borne infections.

The town of Westminster has posted an online document explaining the Steps You Can Take in preventing ticks in your yard.  The document highlights the importance of using a licensed applicator in treating your yard to prevent ticks.  A link to a Tick Management Handbook published by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention is also in this informative document.

A licensed Westminster tick control spray applicator will be fully trained and qualified in providing the tick tube and barrier spray services you need to protect you, your family and pets.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Now Is The Time To Reduce Ticks In Your Yard Next Summer

You may think that ticks die off with cold weather in the winter.  A very cold winter means more ticks die off.

Many people still seem to have this notion but it’s not true.  Ticks become dormant in the winter but don’t die off.  Like most of nature, they are survivors and know how to do it very well.

During a tick’s 2-year life cycle, they go from an egg to a larva in their first year of life. reduce ticks in your yard for next summer nowLate in their first year, before winter, they are molting into nymphs.  In order to grow from larvae to nymphs they need their first blood meal.  Most will make this transition inside a white-footed mouse’s nest where they have warmth and an available blood supply to complete their transition into the nymph stage.  Birds may also make a suitable blood meal for them before seeking the warmth of the mouse’s nest for winter.

The following spring they will be fully developed nymphs and begin looking for their next blood meal.  It is at this time of the tick’s life that they are most likely to transmit Lyme Disease.  The time of year is usually May through mid-July in MA.

Their very small size and need for a blood meal will require both male and female ticks to get that meal anywhere they can.  They are able to hitch along on a mouse or human and continue to search for that blood meal until they have enough to molt again into an adult.  Nymphs will quest at this time by reaching out from grass and bushes hoping to attach to a warm-blooded mammal like your dog, coyote, fox, raccoon, their friend the white-footed mouse or you.

In many areas, the white-footed mouse population is 85-90% infected with the Lyme bacteria.  Taking a blood meal from an infected mouse in their nest guarantees the larvae tick or nymph tick is also infected with the bacteria.  Voles, squirrels and other rodents may also serve as meals and many carry the Lyme bacteria.

Two Year Cycle of TIcks

Scientists have been working on how to interrupt this cycle of the larvae becoming infected in the mouse’s nest and eliminating them at that point, before they become nymphs in their second year.  One effective method to do this is with tick tubes.  Each fall, mice look for nesting material to build or refresh their nests.  They need soft, lofty material in order to stay warm during the winter.  Ticks need a place to hide and stay warm as well and the thick material and mouse’s body heat make an ideal winter home for them.

Reduce ticks in your yard now with tick control tubes.

Tick tubes are designed to provide the nesting material for the mouse.  The cotton tick tube in gardenmaterial contains an insecticide that rubs on the mouse’s fur as it moves around in the nest.  This insecticide is not harmful to the mouse.  However, when a nymph tries to attach to the mouse for their blood meal it is prevented by the insecticide on the mouse’s fur.  The tick dies and the mouse is unharmed.  The net result is you have fewer ticks to deal with in your yard next spring and summer.

Using both a perimeter spray and tick tubes are a double whammy to your yard’s tick population.  Ticks that survive the winter, or are brought onto your property by other animals like raccoons, coyotes, fox, opossum, etc., are eliminated by the perimeter spray.  An EPA-approved professional tick control barrier spray will be 85-90% effective against ticks.  Adding tick tubes to your tick prevention program drops the total number of ticks down even before the spray is even applied the following spring.  In the end you, your family and your pets have a lower risk for tick-borne infections while enjoying your yard next summer.

Also read: Should I be worried about ticks at my suburban home?

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

Three Super-Easy Tips For Getting Rid Of Ticks

The University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center is a great resource.

I wanted to share their top 3 easiest tips for getting rid of ticks that anyone can do, NO EXCUSES!

getting rid of ticks

In a page titled, TickSmart ™ Tips for TickSafe Living!, 5 tips were given by the Center but 3 are the most simple and easy ones to do.

Tip #1 involves duct tape.

Where would repair people, mechanics and homeowners be without this 11th Wonder of the Fix-it World?  Well, there’s yet another use for it when it comes to ticks.  Before ticks become attached to your skin or your dog’s skin, tear off a piece of duct tape and “stick it to them”.  Blotting up any ticks on the skin removes the tick and prevents them from becoming lost before you can throw them out.  Use a big enough piece of tape to fold it over the tick after removing it and seal them inside.  When you’re done, throw the tape in the trash.  How easy is that?

The second tip involves your toilet.

It’s OK; this one isn’t as bad as it sounds.  Since you have some privacy and your pants and lower garments are off it’s easy to spot any ticks on your skin.  Ticks like to hang out for a free meal in grassy and brushy areas.  They climb to a height anywhere from our ankles to knees.  They dry out quickly in the heat and sun so they try to find shade ASAP.  When they find you, that shade is under your clothes and not outside the fabric.  Once they get near your skin, they begin looking for places where the skin is thin and where the biggest blood supply can be found.  That is usually in the creases and folds of our skin, such as your waist and groin area.

Using the toilet exposes these areas to our view more than any other time of the day, so it’s sizes of ticksa good time to check for ticks in areas of our body normally hidden from our view.  If you feel a bump on your skin in an area and you can’t see clearly, it’s a good idea to inspect more closely with a mirror and flashlight.  Larvae and nymph ticks are very small so you may miss them if you are in a hurry to check. Finding a tick embedded in your skin and removed within the first 24 hours it attaches will greatly improve your chances of not getting a tick-borne infection.

What’s a dryer have to do with Tiverton tick control?

Hard ticks and soft ticks all need moisture, especially hard ticks like deer ticks.  Other soft ticks take a bit longer to dry out.  So tip #3 is to put the clothes you wore outside in the dryer as soon as you come indoors. Do this before washing them.  Ten minutes on high heat will dry out hard ticks and 15+ minutes will dry out the softer ones.  Washing won’t destroy ticks, no matter how hot the water.  Remember, they need moisture and are active in warm months so warmth and water are their two best friends.  Very dry and hot are their worst nightmare.  Once your clothes are finished in the dryer, wash them knowing you won’t be releasing any ticks into your closets or clothes hamper.

Don’t forget your Charlestown tick control.

Dave Macchia, tick control enthusiast
Dave Macchia, Tick Control Enthusiast

In addition to these tick tips, you can prevent ticks from ever reaching you when at home in your yard.  A licensed tick control company can apply a perimeter spray in your yard that serves as a barrier to ticks, as well as mosquitoes, eliminating 85-90% of the ticks in your yard.  Preventing ticks from ever reaching you is one of the most effective ways you can prevent tick-borne infections in your family.  In addition, you will enjoy your yard more during warmer months knowing everyone is better protected.

Also read:
Can you feel a tick bite?