It is tick season, and that also means there is a risk of contracting Lyme disease. It’s often said the "Deer tick" is the source of the bacteria that causes the disease in humans but that is not so. The "Lonestar" tick is the one that is known as the deer tick, and that one is not involved in the disease in humans.
The culprit for people is the Blacklegged tick. Tab O’Neal spoke with David Gaines, State Public Health Etymologist with the Virginia Department of Health, about the tick – and how to avoid any encounters.
David, describe the Blacklegged tick:
“Well, the black legged tick has black legs. It’s a dark-colored tick. The stage that causes most Lyme disease transmission is the nymph. The nymph is extremely tiny – if you had one, let’s say, on your fingernail, and you held your hand at arm’s length from you, it would be such a small little black speck that you wouldn’t really be able to identify what it was. It would look like a black speck of dirt.”
David why is the nymph the one that carries the disease causing bacteria and passes it on to people?
“They have a fairly broad range of hosts that they like to feed on. Their preferred hosts are rodents, but birds are also hosts – small mammals, cats, dogs, squirrels, chipmunks, but also people.”
If they like people so much, where do they live and what should we avoid them?
“There’s a lot of misinformation that’s been copied and repeated by health departments and other groups, like, ‘stay away from grass!’ That’s a very general term – what does grass mean? Does that mean a lawn? Does that mean an open field – what?
What you have to do is recognize that these are shade-loving ticks, and when you’re working in forest environments, especially where there’s forest leaf litter – which is their preferred environment -- or shady edges of forests, they can be in grass along these edges, or on twigs or stumps. So you’re likely working in an area that has black-legged ticks.”
Obviously, this time of year, we're getting out and exploring and working around in areas like you just described. How can we protect ourselves?
“First, wear clothing repellents. In my experience, clothing repellents are probably the most effective thing you can wear. And, tuck pants into socks and shirts into pants – because these little ticks quest for their host at shoe or sock level. If you’re walking through the forest, and you get one on your shoe, they’re going to crawl up your and get to your sock. Then they’re going to crawl up your sock – and if your pants are not tucked into your sock, then they’re going to crawl from your pants to your leg, and crawl up your leg inside your pants where you can’t see them, and find some nice warm bit of skin to feed on.”
David Gaines, what is the blacklegged tic population like?
“It varies across Virginia. In the New River Valley, the population is quite high – probably higher than any place I’ve seen in Virginia. I can go into the forest with a drag in the Blacksburg or Floyd areas and come up with 100 ticks in an hour and a half. Whereas in many parts of Virginia, I might drag around the forest for a full day before I come up with that many ticks.”
David Gaines is State Public Health Etymologist with the Virginia Department of Health.
