Some may find these articles(papers) of interest: Courtesy of the Journal of Medical Entomology


https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/58/4/1487/6255987

https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/58/4/1546/5936773

https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/58/4/1565/6245992

https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/58/4/1588/5830835

Ticks are no joke.

One got me in 2015 and put me in the ICU with a heartrate of 25.

I passed out on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The crash awakened my wife and she called the paramedics. Doc said If I stayed in bed, I probably wouldn't have woke up.

7 days in the hospital
PICC line
Temp pacemaker
30 days of self administered IV Doxycycline

All from a tick I never saw. Noticed the bite, and a (non bullseye) rash. Took 30 days for symptoms to occur.

Lyme Carditis. Stage 3 heart block. Check for ticks.

Thankfully they haven't been too bad this year.Last year was the worst I've seen here.

That sounds terrible RG

Was no picnic, that's for sure. Thank God I made a full recovery.

Interesting how Lyme affects people differently.

I got Lyme disease last year. I never saw the tick. Thought a sweat bee had stung me. My wife is a doc and her practice is seeing way more cases in NC than they ever have in the past. I hate taking antibiotics they mess with my digestive system. She came home with a bottle full of them and said "Take every last one of these on time". A few days after I started taking them the bullseye rash showed up. Really glad I listened.

A neighbor just got diagnosed with it a few weeks ago. My lovely bride has declared war on ticks. We now are raising 30+ Guinee foul. Just moved them from a brooder area in the garage into an outside "poultry palace". They are due to start daytime free range tick patrol in about 2 weeks.

Lyme does occur here in ID but it's quite rare. The CDC says there were only 160 cases in 8 years from 2000 to 2018. They only record confirmed cases, though, so it could be higher. A teenage boy in our church got Rocky Mtn Spotted fever from what was probably a wood tick last money. He was pretty sick for a few days but got over it rapidly with antibiotics. RMSF was named after the Rocky Mtns because that's where it was first identified but it's actually fairly rare there. It's much more prevalent in the south.

RMSF...Idaho.

6200+ cases in 2017.

https://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/stats/index.html

That's 6200+ in the US, not just in Idaho.

Epidemiology Figure 1 – Reported cases of SFR in the United States, 2000–2018

Thanks for correction. I gotta learn to read faster.

Quick question ,youngest son is about to embark on college at WV.
Anyone know how bad they are there?
Was debating to get him a can of Permitherin,but don't know if he can take it to school??

https://oeps.wv.gov/arboviral/Pages/tbd.aspx

https://dhhr.wv.gov/oeps/disease/zoonosis/tick/documents/main/tickborne-main.html

https://oeps.wv.gov/lyme/pages/default.aspx

http://www.wvdhhr.org/phs/training/...s%202020/Lyme%20Disease%20in%20WV%20.pdf

https://www.wvpublic.org/health-sci...ease-as-climate-change-expands-its-reach


Probably no issue, but...

You can spray his clothing per instructions exactly and the permethrin is effective for 40+ days and 5 to six washings. Best results when the clothing is kept away from sunlight and air as in a plastic bag.

You can also purchase clothing that is factory-infused with Permethrin and lasts over 70 washings.

Thank you!!
He loves to fish so I'm sure he'll be wandering around somewhere in the woods.

Possums are tick magnets and eat over 5000 ticks / season.

Ticks jump on the slow-moving possum. Possums are fastidious groomers, and eat the ticks off their bodies. Scientist studied possums( possum scat), and calculated one possum eats over 5000 ticks per season.

Support having more possums in the wild to control tick populations.

https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/opossums-killers-ticks

One tick lays THOUSANDS of eggs.
https://thetarpan.com/how-do-tick-reproduce/

A quart of permethrin mix will kill MILLIONS of ticks and keep them off you for a year or more for about a dollar. Eliminating the need to tolerate chicken killing over grown rats and garden raiders.

Yeah, make sure the "mix" is formulated for CLOTHING and not barns, etc.

I took my two oldest boys squirrel hunting in 2006 and got into a bunch of ticks, actually Lone Stars in the larvae stage. You can barely see them.
I probably had 30 bites on my lower legs.
The next evening, one of them started to get red and I began to chill. They sent me home from work and by the next morning I was so weak I couldn’t even hold my head up.
My wife took me to the doctor and they admitted me on the spot.
A blood clot formed in my lower leg where the bite was and it was all swelled up like I was copperhead bit.
I was in the hospital for seven days being pumped full of antibiotics and blood thinners. I was completely out of it being so weak that at times I could hear people talking but to weak to open my eyes.
The doctor told me there were only two such cases in Indiana that year.
They never were really able to tell me what was wrong with me other than they thought had a “bacterial infection” of the bloodstream brought on by the tick bite.
Who knows. Bad stuff.

I've had lyme disease twice. Both times I was on extended doses of doxycycline. The first time it was from a tick I discovered in the back side of my armpit a day or two after late season spring turkey hunting. The second I didn't know I had. I just developed an intense itch on my back that didn't get bad until a hot, humid June picnic. I asked my sister if I had a rash on my back, lifted my shirt, and she said, "you need to go to the doctor." The doctor at the urgent care called in another doctor and then they took pictures saying it was a picture perfect lyme disease rash.



This year, I haven't picked a tick off me at all. I've been out dozens of times looking for bear and I've waded through armpit high brush, waist high grass, in the woods, reeds, etc. Not a single tick.

Oh, and no fire ants this year, either. Last year I got attacked by fire ants three times and there were mounds everywhere. I've scarcely seen a mound anywhere this year, and the ones I've seen are dormant. It's a great summer to be out in the thick stuff.

Seventy years ago I became very ill but the Doctors here really couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was going downhill pretty fast. My Doctor went to a convention in Denver, posted my X rays and two Colorado Doctors told him I had RMSTF. First known case in California. Lesson learned so now while hunting I spray my clothes down with REPEL and haven't had an issue with ticks in years.

Just got back from a trip to the cabin.

My son just noticed a bullseye rash on his arm. He had an itch there on Saturday but noticed the distinctive shape today.

We have a doctor appointment at 930 tomorrow morning. My wife wants to take him to urgent care now. I don't disagree.

Best wishes for his speedy recovery.

You may want to ask the doctor how familiar they are with the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases. Many are hesitant to diagnose.

Thank you.

Took him to an urgent care last night. They put him on 2 weeks of Doxycycline. 200mgs per day.

I wonder why some docs have that hesitancy? I experienced the same when I had Lyme.

Maybe because doxycycline is the standard drug and a lot of people are allergic to it and you are supposed to stay out of the sun when you take it. You're more prone to sunburn when taking cycline drugs.

More likely it has to do with the prevailing schools of thought in the medical community that disagree on diagnosis and treatment.

Some searches will clarify those approaches.

You may be right. What I do know is doxycycline works for me, but it makes me feel like crap and after a week or so gives me the sh*ts.

No need for urgent care. If they do the test it can take a couple weeks to get the results BACK and THEN start the antibiotic or do like we do and just start the antibiotic and by the time the test gets back you've forgot you were sick, EXCEPT you REALLY WANT TO STAY OUT OF THE SUN with that particular antibiotic they give you for Lyme.

You saw that he IS on a doxycycline regimen, right?

Update. Bullseye rash went away. He is doing well on the Doxycycline.

When I had my bout with Lyme Carditis, they sent in the test. First sample was lost. The second sample came back two weeks later, positive.

Lyme wasn't on the first docs radar. Second doc called it immediately. Glad I got a second opinion.

Gamehide has a line of clothes called elimatick. It's treated and lasts for 70 washings. I always have it on in the woods anymore

I would rather go into the Pa woods without a gun...than not have a supply of doxycycline for both the Dogs and myself...

if one has no previous reason to avoid doxycycline..the conclusion should be given consideration. The defining word is "Can". Can doesn't mean 100%. If hunting in a Lyme area, talk with your Doc about getting some.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11450675/

Lyme can mimic a variety of diseases....If they can't figure it out...ask for a Lymes test.

"Called the “great imitator,” Lyme disease can present a variety of symptoms that mimic a wide range of illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, ALS, Alzheimer's disease, depression, insomnia, and autoimmune disorders such as RA and Multiple Sclerosis (MS)"



One friend was crippled up for a year and was being unsuccessfully treated for meningitis..One Doc finally tested him for Lymes...One year later of daily IV tetracycline he is mostly whole..Still has some face palsy, but walking and hunting;

My sons 16 year old friend is currently in the hospital with a heart rate of 40. Healthy football player.
I don't know him all that well. Hope they do Lyme tests down in the mountains of VA.

Hope he is ok

Additional reading:

https://academic.oup.com/jme/pages/the-rise-of-ticks-and-tick-borne-diseases

That's the natural tick removal system. I've seen grown men squirm like little girls going fishing for the first time. You'd think these men were baiting a hook when they say the word possum. "Uuuuuuuwwww! A big rat!!" As they shiver with disgust. Then brag about killing the dragon- like beast . The same with little snakes.
IMHO Possums are awesome. They remove mice, ticks, venomous snakes and skunk eradication.
Opossum night watch patrol.

☕ 😄 👍

^^ That's funny right there! ^^ I once saw a 'coon and a skunk get into a boxing match under my folks bird feeder. The skunk never fired off a stink shot.

Treat cotton balls with 10% water base permthrin, stuff into tp roll tubes. Scatter around property a few times per year. Tick numbers plummet.

We did this starting years ago and slacked off as ticks became much less prevalent. I should have continued, but we just don't have ticks like e did before.

It's the diy version of a commercial product. Daminix is probably the name; misspelled.

For backpacking, dilute permethrin to 2% and treat clothing.

With 300,000 Lyme infections per year, looks like we are suffering a shortage of at least 300,000 'possums...

I got RMSF and was treated with doxy around a day and a half after the bite. It still messed me up some.

I'd like to see that. It's amazing how we don't often see what goes on at night while the nocturnal world is active.
Boxing matches between skunks and coons. Lol!

An immature opossum and cat were playing like young dogs in the middle of the road while I watched in my headlights. I never saw different animals play like that which weren't domesticated.

Been using Sawyers Permethrin for a few years. Decided to go with a gallon jug of mix from another supplier so I won’t scrimp. Supposed to do 40 outfits, not two.

Deer season starts two weeks from tomorrow…

Using a formula that is made for clothing, right?

There ARE formulas for farm and ranch buildings and livestock...

A few years ago I hunted turkey in Missouri. I came home with Tick Fever and a nice gobbler. I was a sick SOB for two weeks.
Bad stuff!

I’m waayyy more afraid of ticks than mountain lions and bears!!
😂😂

Yup. It’s just a big honkin’ jug of it. $43 a gallon instead of $30 for 24oz. Also registered for some other applications. .5% water-based. $aver Pak JT Eaton on Amazon.

If it will kill my lice and bedbugs...gotta get me some!

BTW, $15 for the 24 oz, not $30.

I did this (except I used pvc pipe) and it seemed to help. I also declare war on the Jap Barberry bushes.

Yeah, the mice use the cotton as bedding material, being tick hosts, the numbers drop.


For clothing, .5%. Military uses ~.6%

👍
Thank God.
I was thinking when he said that, every country home needs a flock of guineas and a herd of opossums.
My friend had ticks all over her dogs when she moved into her home in the country. She decided to try guineas and from that point on she never saw one tick.

Seems like a good idea. Plenty of anecdotal reports.

Bummer is when they themselves become hosts...

Best place to get Permethrin is a company called SAWYER - www.sawyer.com - they have it in several styles and options.

what part of upstate ny are you from ?
i called northeastern ny home for 19 yrs before moving out west 33 yrs ago

We don’t have ticks since the fire ants moved in

Soak my turkey hunting clothes in permethrin and hang up to dry in shop. Never had a problem.

Weve got ticks and fireants and hardly any quail in Mississippi

Consider re-application:


https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/59/2/615/6484613

We have cedar trees and at certain times they are full of tiny ticks you can barely see. I had to put seven dust on the ground from the back door to the wash house for my mother because she could not go out there without being covered in them. I just punched holes in a gallon can and made a wire bale. Filled it with seven dust and sprinkled it in a wide path for her to use going and coming. We kept the washer, dryer, and freezer along with canned jars of food in what we called the wash house so she had to go out there fairly often. It worked.

Fire ants have killed the ticks out down here.

"What is, name one good thing about ticks, Alex."