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| Amblyomma americanum |
Monday, July 1, 2019
Lone Star Tick PSA
As someone who has suffered the effects of Lyme Disease, I am extra cautious when it come to ticks and tick borne diseases. Everyone else who spend time in the outdoors really should too. As such, I felt it important to warn readers that lone star ticks are spiking in numbers in parts of Southern New England this season. Lone star ticks can't handle some of the climates or environments that dear ticks can. Overall milder climates are more prone to having them. As such, around here they are currently mostly isolated to coastal areas. After some time in South County Rhode Island last week I found two lone star ticks crawling on me. Outdoorsmen spending time in this area should be extra cautious. Lone star ticks carry human ehrlichiosis and tularemia. If you find a tick that has been attached to you, it is a good idea to seek medical attention.
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Good advice. They are nasty devils and should not be taken lightly.
ReplyDeleteTiny but dangerous.
DeleteWow, didn't know they got up here!
ReplyDeleteWe all test positive for long term Lyme immune globulin. I was treated for a bullseye once in the 80s. Never treated since. Wife was treated once. I don't think kids have ever been treated. We find deer ticks pretty frequently on the dogs and sometimes on us. I am cavalier about it. I spend so much time out in the woods and I fear DEET. I may be unwise. So far I think at least two of us have exhibited natural immunity. Or we simply haven't been bit and infected by a nymph. The adults are usually found before they bite but not always. The larvae are too small but rarely a disease vector.
I'm always open to new information on the disease. I do check in with the doctor on the subject. So far so good. On those occasions that we get tested only the long term IG shows up--except once--when my wife was treated.
Having the long term IG for Lyme is great, until you contract some non-Lyme tick borne illness. Best not to be exchanging bodily fluids with other animals via small parasites.
DeleteAgree with that. The lone star tick showing up concerns me.
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