Latest news with #RockyMountainSpottedFever
CTV News
3 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
What you need to know about West Nile, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the measles
Video Infectious diseases expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch on what you need to know about West Nile, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the Measles.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Pet owners warned of ticks transmitting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
A Rocky Mountain wood tick (left) and American dog tick (right). (Source: Public Health Agency of Canada) Grand Erie Public Health is urging pet owners to be extra vigilant about tick removal after Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was found in animals who had recently visited Long Point. 'RMSF can be life-threatening in both humans and animals if not treated early,' the health unit wrote in a social media post Sunday. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, like Lyme disease, is a bacterial illness spread through the bite of an infected tick. It is found in several species, including the American dog tick, the brown dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick. The most common symptoms are fever, headache and rash. Medication can be prescribed once symptoms start but, if left untreated, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is potentially fatal. Preventing tick bites Tips to reduce the risk of tick bites: Avoid tick-infested areas Wear light-coloured long sleeves and pants outdoors, as well as closed-toe shoes Tuck pant legs into socks before walking through long grass Use insect repellents with DEET or Icaridin on skin and clothing Conduct tick checks after outdoor activities, feel for bumps or look for tiny dark spots (ticks can be as small as a sesame seed) Take a shower or bath within two hours of being outdoors Use tick prevention products on pets Removing and disposing of ticks Ticks need to be removed within 24 hours to prevent infection. Here's what to do if you find one: Use tweezers or a specialized tick remover to grab hold of its body as close to the skin as possible Pull it straight out Apply antiseptic ointment on the bite Write down where you found the tick on your body, as well as well as the time and place you may have picked it up Call your doctor if you feel unwell, are unable to remove the tick yourself or if it has buried itself too deeply into the skin Do not: Use petroleum jelly or other products Burn the tick Crush or damage the tick while trying to remove it Experts recommend killing the tick by drowning them in rubbing alcohol or putting them in the freezer for several hours. Once dead, they can be thrown into the garbage. Physical symptoms If you have been bitten by a tick, here are some of the symptoms to watch out for: Circular red rash around the bite Fever Chills Swollen glands Headache Diarrhea Weakness Dry cough Joint pain Muscle ache Stiff neck Reporting ticks If you find a tick, on yourself or your pet, take a photo and submit it to for expert identification within 24 hours. An email will be sent with the results. You can also check out the public tick map for other confirmed sightings.
07-07-2025
- Health
ER visits for tick bites near record levels this summer across US
Emergency rooms across the country are seeing a spike in tick bite cases, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July has already seen the highest number of tick-related ER visits since 2017, with the Northeast region reporting the most cases, the CDC said. Young children and elderly adults appear particularly vulnerable, with those under 10 and over 70 years old having the highest rates of emergency room visits, according to the CDC. For residents in the New York tristate area, the threat is particularly severe. The Fordham Tick Index, which monitors tick activity in southern New York, Connecticut and Northern New Jersey, currently rates the bite risk as "very high" – 9 out of 10 on its scale. The CDC reports that climate change may be contributing to the increasing numbers. In regions where Lyme disease is already present, milder winters result in fewer disease-carrying ticks dying during cold months, the agency notes. According to CDC data, May typically marks the annual peak for tick-bite emergencies. These rising numbers have prompted health officials to remind the public about the dangers posed by these tiny insects. The CDC warns that ticks can transmit various diseases through their bites, many of which share similar symptoms. Most people who visit emergency rooms report fever and chills, headaches, fatigue and muscle aches. Some patients also develop distinctive rashes, particularly those associated with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. With outdoor activities in full swing this summer, the CDC has issued several recommendations to prevent illness. The agency advises avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter, and staying in the center of trails when hiking. It also recommends using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing DEET, Picaridin, or other approved ingredients. The CDC recommends treating outdoor clothing and gear with permethrin, which remains effective even after multiple washes. Those planning to use both sunscreen and insect repellent should apply sunscreen first, followed by the repellent. Health officials are also emphasizing that no area is immune to tick activity.
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Climate
- Boston Globe
New England is seeing one of its worst tick seasons in years
New Englanders are used to dealing with a vast assortment of ticks, including Lone Star ticks, deer ticks that carry Lyme disease, and American dog ticks that can transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. But this season is shaping up to be a particularly bad one, with a surge of tick-borne diseases and tick exposures across the country, especially in the Northeast. Related : Advertisement In June, visits to emergency rooms for tick bites reached their highest levels in at least five years in New England and other nearby states, according to data from the The trend is similar in Massachusetts. According to monthly records published by the state's department of public health, Advertisement Massachusetts State Epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown said that although the data doesn't capture visits to urgent care and primary care providers for tick exposure, it points to a real increase in interactions between ticks and humans in the state. 'This year is definitely an outlier for us,' Brown said. Thomas Mather, director of the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Diseases, said that higher levels of tick-borne diseases in New England are mostly caused by higher numbers of blacklegged, or deer tick, nymphs. The nymphs are around the size of a poppy seed, and about 20 percent of them in the New England region carry Lyme, Mather said. They thrive in humid weather. 'It's not related to how warm it is in the winter … if it's dry in the early spring when they first emerge, they start dying,' Mather said. 'Whenever there were low-humidity episodes early in the season in late May and early June, we always had fewer ticks and fewer disease cases.' All in all, New England is seeing more humidity in the spring and summer now compared to the previous two decades, said Ken Mahan, the Globe's lead meteorologist. This is a direct result of a warming atmosphere because warmer temperatures hold more moisture. 'When dew points push above 65, that's when a big change in available moisture can be felt,' said Mahan. '[There has been an] increasing trend in the number of 70-degree dew point days across Boston over the years.' Advertisement Deer tick populations are also positively correlated with the populations of small rodents and deer, the animals that serve as their most important food sources. Mather said that the migration of Lone Star ticks, which were formerly common only in the South, over the past five years has been the biggest change in the trend of tick-borne diseases in New England. Mather runs an 'Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts are right on the edge of the northward expansion of these ticks … Martha's Vineyard and Narragansett Bay are completely infested with them,' Mather said. Allison Cameron Parry, a professional bodybuilder and mother of two who lives on Martha's Vineyard, said that almost everyone in her family has Alpha-gal. After giving up meat and dairy, she has had to work harder to supplement those nutrients, which are necessary for her athletic training. Related : Cameron Parry also said she was worried about her 3-year-old son playing outside. 'Long grass literally gives me anxiety … We use a natural spray in our yard, because I have a young child. Unfortunately, the smaller the child, the bigger the risk, because they don't know to stay out of the bush,' Cameron Parry said. At a virtual panel held by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health last week, experts from Harvard and Boston University spoke about preventing tick-borne diseases. Advertisement Richard Pollack, senior environmental public health officer at Harvard University, recommended that people treat their clothes with permethrin, an EPA-registered tick repellent derived from an ingredient found in chrysanthemums. Pollack also advised people to 'You don't necessarily need to go to the emergency room to have somebody pull the tick off. You might be sitting for six hours, in some cases, before you're actually seen,' Pollack said. 'So just pull the tick off, save it, and then you can delve into what it was later.' Dr. Daniel Solomon, infectious disease specialist at Mass General Brigham, recommends that people take the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of removing a tick that was attached to their skin. 'By the book, the CDC would say that the tick needs to be attached for 36 hours or more [for a patient to take the antibiotic], but we don't know when ticks attach,' Solomon said. 'So if there's a tick attached, it's plausible that it could have been on there for a day or more, so take a single dose of doxycycline.' Brown, the state epidemiologist, said the increase in tick exposure should not discourage people from enjoying the outdoors. She recommended people use tick repellents, wear light-colored, long-sleeved clothing so it's easier to spot and remove ticks, and put their clothes in the dryer on high heat after returning home to kill ticks that are hard to see. Advertisement For pets, Pollack said that there were oral medications for dogs as well as topical ointments that can be applied at the back of the neck once a month to prevent tick bites. Patrick and Lily Marvin of Topsfield have three golden retrievers and have noticed more ticks on their dogs this summer when they go for hikes in Beverly. Two summers ago in Nantucket, one of the dogs, Kevin, contracted Lyme disease despite wearing a medicated collar. 'He was lethargic, didn't want to eat, and would cry whenever we gave him antibiotics,' Patrick said. He has since recovered, and the Marvins have been proactive about giving their dogs chewable tablets to keep them safe from ticks. The speakers at the panel also noted that there are vaccines in the works to fight tick-borne diseases. A This is welcome news to McCormack. 'Ticks are scary because they're so small and they carry such life-altering diseases,' she said. Angela Mathew can be reached at
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Asian longhorned tick threatens U.S. livestock and health
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory identified a dangerous tick species in Northeast Oklahoma in early June. The same species was also identified for the first time in St. Louis County in late February. The species in question is the Asian Longhorned Tick. See the interactive map from the USDA here The tick poses a risk to people, pets, and livestock. It's especially harmful to livestock and has been known to break out into an infestation on one animal, leading to great stress and reducing growth and production. A severe infestation on one animal can even cause the animal to die from blood loss. Yikes! Aside from its infestation capabilities, the tick also carries disease. Livestock, in particular, is at risk of catching bovine theileriosis from a longhorned tick. Bovine theileriosis is a blood-borne parasite that, when left untreated, can cause an animal to die. Outside of the US, the tick has been linked to carrying human diseases such as Japanese Spotted Fever. However, the longhorned ticks found in the US have not been found to transmit human pathogens such as Lyme disease. That's good news for now! It's been found in a lab that this tick species could become a carrier for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever This species of tick is unique in that the females can reproduce without a male. This is why they are efficient at spreading once introduced into a new geographic region. The tick was first identified in the US in 2017 and has since spread to 21 eastern states. The species was first found in Missouri in 2021. It's been identified in both the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas, and traces of the tick have been found in Greene County. A live specimen, however, hasn't been confirmed yet in Springfield. The tick has also been identified in Benton, Washington, Boone, Searcy, and Independence counties in Northern Arkansas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
