What are Ticks?
Ticks are tiny parasites that are often found in the woods and forested areas. Ticks feed on people and animals, and they require blood meals to complete their life cycles. There are simple steps that you can learn to protect yourself and your family from tick bites, and the illnesses they can cause.
Why are Ticks Dangerous?
Without treatment, some tickborne illnesses can cause severe sickness or death.
Ticks are small and often bite in areas that are hard to see.
While most tickborne infections occur during the summer, ticks may still be active well into the fall, or even year-round in warmer climates.
Prevention
Before You Go Outdoors
- Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in grassy or wooded areas. Spending time outside could bring you in close contact with ticks.
- Treat clothing and gear with products containing .5% permethrin.
- Use EPA registered insect repellants (e.g. DEET). Always follow product instructions.
- Walk in the center of trails and avoid brushy or wooded areas.
After You Come Indoors
- Check your clothing for ticks. Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing.
- Examine outdoor gear and pets for ticks.
- Shower within two hours of coming indoors. Showering may help to wash off unattached ticks.
- Check your body for ticks after being outdoors. Check these parts of your body:
- Under the arms
- In and around the ears
- Inside belly button
- Back of knees
- In and around hair
How to Safely Remove a Tick
- Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
- Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
- After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scurb, or soap and water.
AVOID folklore remedies such as painting the tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly, or using heat. These methods are not recommended and may cause the tick to burrow deeper in the skin.
After Removal
Watch for Symptoms
Watch for symptoms for 30 days after being bitten by a tick. Contact your healthcare provider if you get any of the following:
- Fever and chills
- Aches and pains
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Muscle Aches
Should I get my Tick Tested?
No. Sending in ticks is not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or Montana DPHHS
- Labs that conduct tick testing do not have the same standards of quality as clinical laboratories, so results may not be reliable.
- Not every bite results in disease being transmitted, negative results could lead to false assurance.
What Tickborne Illnesses Occur in Montana?
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Tularemia
- Colorado Tick Fever
- Tickborne Relapsing Fever
*Note on Lyme disease: All cases of Lyme disease in Montana residents are acquired out of state. The ticks that carry Lyme disease have not been found in Montana.