Ticks making me cross

Ticks are having a field day in the bush around Perth. Tick season in WA is from September to April — and at its peak now.

They live in the bush, climb up plants and wait for a host (me) to pass by. They will even actively march towards a host who’s sitting resting.

Though I’m careful, over the last few weekends, my every foray has brought back dark brown dots that are tricky to remove from the skin and leave itchy, weeping welts.

Ticks.

My clothes, boots and hat then go in the freezer for four or five days to make sure there aren’t any ticks lurking in them.

Ticks are parasites that feed on human and animal blood. They scurry up inside clothing, attach themselves to the skin, burrow their mouthparts in and feed.

Female ticks need to have a blood meal before producing eggs. Once they are engorged, the female will drop from the host animal and lay a clutch of eggs. The larval ticks that hatch can live for weeks without a blood meal — but they eventually attach to a host and feed for several days before dropping off to moult to the nymph stage.

Adult males feed very little on blood and tend to climb onto a host to find a female tick.

To feed, ticks cut the skin with their mouthparts, insert a feeding tube and secrete saliva which has anaesthetic properties, so that the host can’t feel the “bite”.

Once they are firmly attached, they inject saliva which destroys the skin cells’ walls, causing the cell to disintegrate. This mushy patch of “lysed tissue” gives the tick a constant supply of liquid nutrients.

TYPES

According to the WA Government’s Department of Health, there are two families of ticks in Australia — hard ticks (Ixodidae) and soft ticks (Argasidae).

The most common hard ticks in WA are:

+ The ornate kangaroo ticks (Amblyomma triguttatum spp).

+ The brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus).

They range in size from smaller than a pin head (the larva) to the almost size of the nail on my little finger (engorged adult). They are brown, reddish brown, grey and black.

Soft ticks are less of a problem for us, as they are more commonly found on birds, marsupials and horses.

The good news (for us) is that the eastern paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) is only found on the east coast of Australia. We’re fortunate, as female paralysis ticks can transmit a toxin to their host while feeding, causing paralysis, and an antitoxin is needed to counter the toxin and symptoms.

DISEASES

There are several other tick-borne diseases, but the WA Health Department advises: “In WA, the most common health impact associated with ticks is a localised reaction at the site of the bite. Following tick removal, a small, itchy, bruise-like mark may persist for days or months.

“Proteins in the saliva can induce an allergic/anaphylactic reaction, although this is not common.”

But ticks can transmit a bacteria that can cause rickettsial disease. I’ve known people in WA who have contracted this from ticks. It can cause fever, rash, myalgia (muscle pain), headache and fatigue.

The Health Department advises: “Whilst there are a range of different rickettsial diseases distributed throughout Australia, Rickettsia gravesii (spotted fever group rickettsia) infections have been reported in WA.” Rickettsia is a notifiable infectious disease in WA.

PREVENTION

+ Use a permethrin wash on clothing before going to the bush.

+ Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers, and tuck your shirt into your pants, and pant legs into socks. Ticks “head north” — climb upwards.

+ Spray clothing (and exposed skin) with insect repellent.

+ Light-coloured clothing makes it easier to see ticks before they get inside and attach to the skin.

+ After being in tick habitats, clothes can be put in a hot tumble dryer for 20 minutes — or (like me) in the freezer.

+ Check everywhere for ticks — don’t miss behind the ears, scalp, groin and underarms.

REMOVAL

I’m opening a can of worms now I’ve come to tick removal.

It seems that every experienced bush person I know has their own technique — and each is the best, of course.

My suggestion is to NOT follow advice to use kerosene or burn the tick to kill it — and certainly don’t combine the two.

Tick removal kits tend to concentrate on tools for removal — tweezers for removing nymphs and pronged instruments to “hook” the tick.

But . . .

+ Current research seems to show that killing ticks before removing them reduces the risk of reactions, as the flow of tick saliva is reduced.

+ So, if you find a tick, be patient and don’t just scratch it off. Apply permethrin-based creams or ether-based sprays to kill it. A good idea for this is a permethrin-based scabies cream.

+ This is a particularly good approach for tiny larvae that are attached to the skin.

+ For both nymphs (“pepper ticks”) and adult ticks, freeze them with an ether-based spray, which you can get from a chemist. Several sprays, like Medi Freeze Tick Off are available specifically for tick removal ($25.99 at Chemist Warehouse; $22.82 online at Woolworths).

+ When the tick has been frozen, if it doesn’t fall off on its own, remove it with fine-tipped tweezers or forceps. Grab it as close to the skin as possible. Try not to squeeze its body — just firmly pull it directly upwards. It will usually “hang on” and pull the skin (even though it’s dead) — but be careful NOT to twist or pull it an angle, as this increases the chances of breaking the tick and leaving the mouthparts in the skin. You don’t want that.

+ After getting it out, use a first aid cream containing an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic. I’m a Savlon boy.

JUSTIFICATION

. . . a few words in favour of the tick (because you have to ask, what is their ecological purpose).

Scientists say ticks are part of the food web. Birds, reptiles and amphibians eat them. They also help to control animal populations by transmitting diseases which knock off the weakest, sickest and oldest — part of the natural selection process.