Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Awareness Month

Governor Tina Kotek has proclaimed May as Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Awareness Month in Oregon. May marks the beginning of heightened activity for ticks which last all summer and into the autumn. People and ticks can come into contact with each other, sometimes resulting in dire consequences.

Each year over 500,000 in the United States are infected with Lyme disease. According to the CDC estimates, there were 774 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Oregon between 2008 and 2022. Because diagnostic tools are unreliable, the CDC estimates that the actual number of cases is 10 times higher.

Even with antibiotic treatment between 16% and 39% of infected people go on to develop chronic symptoms which can make maintaining a job or school difficult. Adding to the problem is the fact that each tick can carry multiple pathogens which can be passed through a bite.

Not all people infected with Lyme disease are aware of being bitten by a tick. Ticks in their nymphal stage can be as small as a poppy seed and still transmit pathogens. Only between 70% and 80% report developing the classic erythema migrans (EM) rash, aka as a “bulls-eye” rash. People of color can have a more difficult time seeing the rash even when it does occur. Early symptoms include “flu” like aches and pains, fever, chills, night sweats, fatigue, nausea, and joint pains. Some people develop Bell’s Palsy which is characterized by a drooping or partial paralysis on one side of the face. Chronic symptoms are multi-systemic involving the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, heart and circulation, digestion, reproductive system, and skin.

Prevention is key to protecting yourself and your loved ones. There are several great websites with tons of information on how to keep yourself safe. Here’s a few: TickEncounter, through the University of Rhode Island (https://web.uri.edu/tickencounter/); LymeDisease.org; BayAreaLyme.org; and the CDC.

Ashley Shambaugh resides in Portland, Oregon and is spreading awareness around Lyme & tick borne diseases in honor of Lyme disease awareness month (May). She became debilitatingly ill in 2020 and later that year tested CDC positive for late stage Lyme disease. Since then it has become her mission to heal and raise critical awareness around this disease as Oregon is a highly outdoorsy state. She wants to let Oregonians know how to protect themselves and their pets! Be tick aware by knowing the signs & symptoms of early Lyme disease, know how to do a tick check and use preventative measures anytime you are outdoors by using tick sprays on clothing & skin. You can follow Ashley on Instagram where she shares her story and awareness around Lyme & TBD (tick borne diseases). Ashley and some Lyme friends got together and helped Oregon with this awareness by making Oregon official with the proclamation signed in by Governor Tina Kotek making May Oregon’s official Lyme disease awareness month!

Preventing tick bites:

• Wear tick-repellent clothing treated with permethrin. Permethrin is odorless, invisible, and when commercially treated, can last through 70 washes.

• Wear light colored clothing that ticks can be seen crawling on. Tuck pant legs into socks to close entry points.

• Check yourself daily for ticks. Ticks can attach anywhere, in particular, they will find spots like: the back of your knee, around waistbands, inside belly button, between your legs, under armpits, in and around ears, in and around hair, or in any constricted place. Anytime after you have been in tick habitat you should thoroughly check your entire body and remove attached ticks immediately. Once attached, ticks do not wash off easily in the shower.

• The CDC recommends using tick repellents containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. Do not use products containing OLE or PMD on children under 3 years old.

• Avoid contact with ticks by avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter and walking in the center of trails.

• Shower within 2 hours of being outdoors to wash off any unattached ticks.

• Ticks can enter your home on exposed clothing gear, or pets. Clothing should be washed in hot water and/or tumbled in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill ticks. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks. Pets and gear should be closely examined. If a tick found, remove it as you would for a human.

• Talk to your veterinarian about how best to protect your animal family members.

How to safely remove an attached tick:

• Grasp as near to the head as possible with sharp tweezers or a tick remover tool.

• Pull straight out with a steady, even pressure. Do not squeeze or twist the body—this could cause the tick to expel its contents into your bloodstream. Do not cover the tick in soap, alcohol, or any other substance, as this may irritate the tick and also provoke it to expel its contents.

• Clean the area with an alcohol swab.

• Save tick for identification and testing if desired.

• Take a picture of the tick and upload to TickSpotters/TickEncounter, through the University of Rhode Island for identification and risk assessment.

• Watch the affected area for signs of infection. Initial redness and swelling is common and attributed to the body’s reaction to enzymes in the saliva of the tick. If a rash appears, or the area becomes tender or painful, this could be a sign of infection and medical attention should be sought.

Do not burn the tick, cover the tick with Vaseline or nail polish remover, or squeeze the tick’s body. These could increase the chance of pathogen transmission from tick to host.

Preventing ticks in your yard:

• Keep your grass mowed and your yard clean of leaf-litter. Ticks prefer moist shaded areas. Having your grass at the right height will expose ticks to more sunlight repelling them. This can also expose the ticks to insect eating birds. Removing leaf-litter will eliminate the moist shaded areas that create an optimal tick habitat. Direct sunlight will create dry hot areas which will in turn repel ticks. Trimming trees will help create direct exposure to the sun and help eliminate the moist areas. Cleaning your yard can reduce the potential of ticks spreading to other areas.

• Remove any woodpiles you may have laying around. Woodpiles can create the perfect habitat for ticks. If you have a woodpile for burning, move the pile away from your house. If you are cleaning up debris from freshly trim trees, eliminate the debris piles quickly after trimming.

• Create a barrier around your yard, house or play equipment with cedar woodchips or gravel. This will reduce tick migration to other areas. Move all play equipment away from the edges of your yard and into direct sunlight. This will reduce the risk of your children coming into contact with ticks but will not entirely eliminate the risk.

• A tick repellent spray can be used in your yard to help decrease the tick population. You can spray the perimeter of your home as a way of protection or the perimeter of your yard. It is best to spray for ticks during peak season, which is usually from spring to fall.

• There are a variety of plants that have been known to repel ticks. Plants such as lavender, garlic, rosemary, sage, mint, eucalyptus and citronella are known to be a natural deterrent of ticks. This method should not be your primary method of eliminating ticks but should be used in conjunction with other methods.

• Steps should be taken to keep tick-carrying wildlife out of your yard. Deer, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, and groundhogs are all hosts that can carry ticks into your yard. A fence is an effective approach, as well as various repellants. It is important to avoid feeding these animals and eliminating their food sources. If you have plants or shrubs that are close to your house, keep them trimmed and spaced out. This will help deter animals from seeking shelter in them.

• A tick tube can be used to target specific small animals, such as mice, to get rid of ticks. You can take a cardboard tube and stuff it with cotton balls soaked with permethrin. Permethrin is one of the leading products used for killing ticks because it is safe for children and dogs. Once the cotton balls are soaked with permethrin, stuff them in the cardboard tube and place the tubes around your property. Small animals will take the cotton balls to make their nests and the permethrin will treat their fur and therefore kill the ticks.