Ticks making presence felt in the area

COLUMBUS - Area health officials are awaiting test results for tick-related diseases on a Platte County child who was recently bitten by a tick in East Central Health Department's four-county district.

The health department currently has lab work pending on the child who became ill after a tick was found, said Rebecca Rayman, executive director of the health district.

An adult in Boone County has tested positive for Lyme disease and two kids in Madison County have tested positive for Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the last couple of months.

“Ticks seem to be more of a problem this year,'' Rayman said. The health district serves the four-county area of Platte, Colfax, Boone and Nance counties.

Rayman said the Boone County adult was bitten by a tick while working outside, but children can be bitten while just playing outside in the grass in their yards.

“We usually think of ticks as being out in the woods, but you can find them outside in the yard while gardening,'' she said.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.

If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease.

Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics.

Summer is the season when children and adults spend more time outdoors (gardening, camping and taking walks) and it also is time when people are more likely to come in contact with grasses and weeds that hide ticks. 

Rayman said now is a good time for people to take precautions against ticks.

The health department advises these steps to prevent ticks from attaching to them:

� Using insect repellent with DEET, remembering to take special care with legs and feet;

� Removing ticks promptly;

� Wear light colored clothing where you can see ticks easier if they do get on your clothing

� Wearing long pants and tuck the pant legs into the top of socks;

� Wearing solid shoes, not sandals.

People should check themselves and their pets when they come indoors to make sure that ticks have not gotten onto themselves or their clothing. Ticks can be as small as the size of a poppy seed.

To remove a tick, take a tweezers and pull the tick out as close to its mouth parts as possible. Don't use alcohol or a lit match. 

Ticks can cause erlichiosis (er-LICK-ee-o-sis), Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia and Lyme disease.

In late-June two cases of erlichiosis in adults were reported in Buffalo and Lancaster counties and three cases total of Rocky Mountain spotted fever were reported, two in Madison and one in Nuckolls County.

In addition, two cases of Lyme disease were reported, the one in Boone County and the other a child in Lancaster County.