It’s tick season
IT IS tick season in Australia. The time of year to watch out for these tiny, biting parasites.
Ticks are found in most Australian states. They prefer a warm and humid climate because moisture is necessary for metamorphosis.
Being aware of ticks, how to identify and treat a bite is useful knowledge for bushwalkers, campers and people who work outdoors. Those of us spending time on the road, even if we do not bushwalk, are likely to encounter ticks at our campsites.
Travellers and bushwalkers east of the dividing range will sooner or later encounter the paralysis or grass tick. It is one of the country’s 70 tick species and one of the 16 known to feed on humans.
These are ancient creatures. Some of us wish they would have stayed in the Cretaceous period between 146 and 66 million years ago, when they first appeared. Their dispersal appears to have been in the succeeding Tertiary era between 65 and 5 million years ago. They are still around and show no sign of going away anytime soon.
How ticks work
Different species of tick are found throughout most of Australia where the eight-legged, pestiferous little arachnids come in two varieties: hard and soft shelled. On the East Coast it is a hard shelled variety, the paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, that according to the federal Department of Health is responsible for 95 percent of tick bites and tick-borne illness.
The little vampires are after our blood, which they use for breeding and nourishment. People react differently to the bite of the two to five millimetre long (depending on life stage) insect. Most of us react with a localised, itchy inflammation and swelling. A few react with allergy that can become life threatening.
Ticks crawl up grass and low-growing vegetation, though seldom to more than a height of 50cm. From there they drop onto passing people and animals on which they attach themselves to the skin to feed. When feeding, they inject an anticoagulant to stop blood clotting. The bad news is their saliva. It can be poisonous.
How do you know a tick has bitten you?
Because they ingest blood, ticks are vectors of diseases that affect humans and other animals.
One of the first signs of a bite is a persistent itchiness. If you experience this, don’t scratch. Doing that risks infection. Check-out the itch to see what it is.
Another sign is localised swelling and redness of the skin which will be inflamed and have a raised centre. Sometimes, you see a dark dot in the centre. This is the top of the tick.
Inflammation, swelling and itchiness can persist some time after the tick is removed. This is all that most people experience from a bite. Some, however, are allergic to tick bites.
Those allergic may experience:
• breathing difficulties rash
• headache
• fever
• unsteadiness
• anaphylactic shock
• collapse.
Tick paralysis is rare and usually limited to children.
If you experience the fiollowing symptoms for more than a week after being bitten, health authorities recommend you see a doctor:
• flu-like symptoms
• a new rash
• pain in your joints
• tiredness.
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, the professional body of clinical immunology/allergy specialists in Australia and New Zealand, warns about a relationship between people with allergy to mammalian meats and ticks.
“Australian allergic diseases physicians were the first to describe a link between tick bites and the development of mammalian meat allergy. These findings have since been confirmed by researchers in the USA and in Europe.
“Some people will also be allergic to mammalian milks and animal-derived gelatin which is present in many food products, as a binding agent in some medications and in intravenous blood substitutes known as gelatin colloid (such as Haemaccel and Gelofusine). The target allergen associated with these allergic reactions is present in the gut of ticks, and all mammalian meats (such as beef, pork, lamb, kangaroo, and venison)”.
According to the federal Department of Health, “There are concerns that other serious illnesses, such as a Lyme disease-like syndrome, may be caused by exposure to Australian ticks, however there is no evidence yet this is the case”.
How to treat a tick bite
When we come out of the bush it is a good idea to search our bodies for ticks. If we find any, we don’t follow the old practice for removing them by pulling them out with tweezers. All that is liable to do is squeeze some of their toxic saliva into our bloodstream.
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy recommends killing adult ticks by freezing them using a spray that contains ether. These are the same products used to treat warts and skin tags and are available from pharmacies.
Some pharmacies sell freezing devices especially designed for removing ticks. There are several on the market, one of which has a nozzle specially designed to go over the tick. These devices are a useful addition to the first aid kit for bushwalkers.
Once frozen, you can try removing the tick with fine-tipped tweezers by grasping it close to the skin and steadily pulling upwards. Don’t twist the tick.
Take precautions
Before entering tick habitat apply an insect repellent containing diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) or picaridin to the skin. A further precaution is the permethrin clothes wash kits from outdoor stores. When you get home, washing the clothes you wore in the bush flushes away any ticks that may be on them.
Another strategy recommended by health authorities is wearing a long-sleeved shirt, tucking your trousers into your socks and wearing a wide-brimmed hat.
Be aware but nor afraid
Unless you suffer tick allergy, it is a situation of being aware of the presence of the creatures but not being afraid. Humans have lived with ticks in Australia for tens of thousands of years. It would be interesting to know how Aborigines dealt with them.
Taking precautions is one way to use know-how to avoid fear. Apply a suitable insect repellent and wear appropriate clothing when entering the bush in tick season, the warm months in Eastern Australia. Carry a tick freezer in your first aid kit.
You might also download the free Australian Bites and Stings app for your mobile device. It provides information and treatment advice for most Australian animals that sting and bite, including ticks.
More
Department of Health
https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-tick-bite-prevention.htm
Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy
https://allergy.org.au/patients/insect-allergy-bites-and-stings/tick-allergy
Download the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy’s information on tick allergy
https://allergy.org.au/images/pcc/ASCIA_PCC_Tick_Allergy_2019.pdf
A precautionary story
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/kids/thirtyfour-ticks-burrowed-into-his-skin-and-caused-years-of-misery/news-story/249b6c66a7cf812e538a2be5f5e7eeae
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