Ticks – the most important questions and answers

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Until recently, it was said that the season for ticks starts in April / May and lasts until later in autumn. For several years, due to warm winters, the season starts earlier, and the first ticks are already observed in January and February. Therefore, it is worth knowing as much as possible about these arachnids – their bite may end up very badly for us.

What does a tick look like?

Before we start fighting the enemy, in this case with a tick, it is worth getting to know him better. Ticks belong to the class of arachnids and are grouped into three families: cress (soft ticks), ticks and Nuttallielidae (hard ticks). There are 19 species of ticks permanently in Poland (around 900 in the world).

The most popular species of tick from the ringworm family is the dove girdle (also known as the bird tick). It commonly occurs in bird nesting places – in lofts, henhouses, nests, as well as in church towers, attics and attics. Obrzeżek attacks at night, and a his saliva is a very strong allergen. Contact with marginal saliva can cause anaphylactic shock and be fatal.

1. Have a question about ticks or tick-borne diseases? Send them to the following address: [email protected]. You will find a daily updated list of answers HERE: Ticks and Lyme disease – frequently asked questions and answers.

The rim of pigeons lives primarily on pigeons, but also feeds on the blood of swallows, rooks, chickens and ducks. This species of ticks has no eyes, a flattened body, and the hard head and snout that are typical of ticks. Usually it has a gray-gray or gray-brown color – it blends with the ground. Ringworms lead a nocturnal lifestyle, and they search for hosts based on their body heat. They can attack people and their sting is imperceptible. Only after the rim comes off the skin, itching and burning appear, which can last up to several months.

We can find ticks from the family Ixodidae (ticks) much more easily than the dove rim. Ticks of this family are obligate external parasites of terrestrial vertebrates. Their life consists of three stages of development: larvae, nymphs and adults. All of us have probably seen the adult form of the tick. Few people, however, know that nymphs can be equally dangerous, especially due to their small size – it is very difficult to notice tick nymphs on the skin.

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Tick ​​larvae have three pairs of legs, nymphs and adults have four pairs. Adult ticks are approx. 30 mm long. Females lay eggs outside the host’s body. Most ticks have one to three hosts in their life cycle. It is on these hosts that the tick “hunts” lurking in the tall grass.

Where can we find ticks most often?

Ticks from the Ixodidae family can be found practically wherever we have a patch of green grass. These arachnids like tall grass, leafy parks, squares and flower beds. It is worth knowing that we can catch a tick not only in the forest or in the meadow outside the city. They are also present in city parks, and even in our garden (if we have one).

Polish-Slovak research has shown that on the paths that forest animals usually walk, there are as many as seven times more ticks than in the thickets that are located near the paths.

The results of research conducted by scientists from the Pavel Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Košice, as well as from the Faculty of Biology of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the Institute of Zoology of the University of Life Sciences in Poznań can be read in the journal “Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine”.

The research was conducted from March to December in the High Tatras in Slovakia and on the plains of the Slovak Karst. Scientists studied nearly 40 selected parts of the surface along which animal paths run. They also controlled the number of ticks on the areas where forest paths were not visible.

As you can guess, the paths created by animals, which we also often move during our forest walks, were swarming with ticks. For comparison – on the tracks an average of 308 common ticks were counted, and only 43 specimens on the control plots.

Meadow ticks were caught on an average of 435 on the paths, and 135 on the control plots. Scientists explain that these parasites accumulate near the paths, due to the fact that they are not very mobile.

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The result of our research may seem trivial, but it has important practical significance. People intuitively avoid going into the proverbial bushes – because they think something bad will happen to them there. It turns out, however, that it is the use of well-trodden paths that is more dangerous when it comes to the risk of meeting a tick

– emphasized in an interview with PAP Dr. Krzysztof Dudek from the Institute of Zoology of the University of Life Sciences in Poznań.

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Why is the tick dangerous?

Now that we know what ticks look like and where they can be found, it’s time to write about why ticks are dangerous. Ticks are reservoirs of many pathogens, including those that are dangerous to humans. The tick bite does not hurt, as it introduces anesthetic substances along with saliva. She then takes turns sucking blood and injecting saliva, thereby preventing the blood from clotting.

A larva can drink blood for up to three goodies, a nymph up to 5, and an adult female for up to 11 days. When it is satisfied, it falls away from the host. Ticks are also very picky. Before they bite, they wander around our body to find a suitable injection site. They like the places where the skin is warm and thin – they most often bite under the knees, under the breasts, between the buttocks, behind the ear, in the groin or in the elbow bend.

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After a bite, the tick, along with saliva, can introduce pathogens into our body. The tick-borne diseases include:

1. Lyme disease
2. bartonellosis
3. granulocytic anaplasmosis
4. babesiosis
5. tick-borne encephalitis
6. tularemia
7. neoerlichiosis
8. Q fever
9. Rocky Mountain spotted fever
10. relapse
11. Colorado tick fever

You can learn more about tick-borne diseases in our articles:

1. Lyme disease in Poland is becoming more and more common. «10 years ago there were not so many cases»
2. The tick season is in full swing. How to protect yourself from tick-borne encephalitis? The expert replies
3. Should you be afraid of ticks? Check who they threaten the most

How to get rid of a tick?

The presence of ticks must not be a reason to completely abandon nature. However, before we go to the forest, to the meadow, or even for a walk with our pet, it is worth protecting yourself properly, especially in the season for ticks. Make sure you wear appropriate clothing – a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, covered shoes. The color of the clothes does not matter. If we are going to a place where there may be a lot of ticks, we can use preparations that should scare them away.

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After returning home, we carefully inspect the clothes and body, taking into account the zones that ticks like. It may turn out that the arachnid hasn’t had time to dig into the skin yet, and we’ll find it before it does. It is a bit worse when he has already bitten into our body. Removing a tick is not difficult, but requires precision and firmness. And of course knowledge. The shorter the time a tick is in the skin, the less likely we are to be infected with the diseases it carries.

Stressing the tick with such treatments may end up vomiting inside the wound. Only at this point, pathogens can enter our body.

So what are we doing? It is worth getting equipment for removing ticks at the pharmacy, but you can do without it. The tool with which we will remove the tick must be disinfected. Ordinary tweezers will do the job at home. We grab the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull it out of the skin with one stroke. We do not twist and do not impressions.

After removing the tick, make sure that it is completely removed. Disinfect the place after the bite and wash your hands. Each tick bite should be consulted with a doctor.

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We observe the bite site for several days, because migratory erythema may appear.

Back to frame: Migratory erythema is one of the symptoms of Borrelia burgdorferi infection, causing Lyme disease. In more than half of those infected, erythema has not occurred or has been overlooked. This means that Lyme disease can go undetected for years.

Characteristic features of migratory erythema:

1. feeling of warmth at the site of the skin lesion;
2. itching and burning of the stung place;
3. the appearance of skin eruptions filled with serous fluid;
4. rims of pink or purple color around the erythema.

The occurrence of migratory erythema may be accompanied by fatigue, headaches, pain in muscles and joints, increased body temperature, and enlarged lymph nodes. Sometimes the erythema metastases to other parts of the skin.

About erythema migrans and other symptoms of Lyme disease:

1. Symptoms of Lyme disease – erythema migrans, infection, treatment
2. A little known symptom of Lyme disease. Check what should worry you
3. Lyme disease – questions to which it is good to know the answer

The more we know about ticks, the better we can protect ourselves against them.