Ohio's outdoors folks reporting an explosion of ticks in Buckeye woods and fields this spring
A deer tick is shown under a microscope. Common in the Northeast and now every county in Pennsylvania, the tiny ticks spread dangerous Lyme Disease, named after Lyme, Conn., where the disease was first recognized. (AP file)
There has been an explosion of ticks in the woods and fields of Ohio this spring. To avoid them, wear light-colored clothing to help see ticks before they can bite, wrap duct tape around your ankles so ticks can't climb inside your pants and wear an insect repellant with DEET to kill ticks. Take along a small, inexpensive tick remover like the gold Pro Tick Remedy, which properly removes a tick that has buried its snout in your skin. The young pup and I have been covering a lot of wild ground these days, and ticks have been so plentiful they're even giving me the creeps.
The warmer winters, April's spate of cool spring rains and the balmy days of May have combined for an explosion of the eight-legged blood suckers.
Tick populations have been on the rise for more than a decade around the Buckeye State and it's getting worse, said Glen Needham, Ohio's renowned tick specialist.
"The crazy wet, cool early spring weather had all of the ticks bunched up," said Needham, an assistant professor of entomology at Ohio State University. "When the warm weather arrived, it was a case of ticks on steroids. People have been reporting they'd never seen this many ticks."
Decades ago, American dog ticks were around. They are large enough to easily spot on light-colored clothes, and you can sometimes feel them crawl on your skin.
The growing population of the much smaller blacklegged deer tick is alarming. Common in the Northeast and now every county in Pennsylvania, the tiny ticks spread dangerous Lyme Disease, named after Lyme, Conn., where the disease was first recognized.
The lone star tick got its name from its Texas environment. With warmer northern winters, lone star ticks have migrated across Kentucky and into southern Ohio.
"The longer a tick is attached, the more likely it will pass along disease," said Needham. "It's very important to check yourself, children and pets after spending any time outdoors. Dogs are the canary in the coal mine for tick infestations. Veterinarians are the first to know when tick numbers are on the rise."
The increase in deer ticks is the biggest change, said veterinarian Marc Toennies at the Rocky River Animal Hospital.
"I used to see primarily American dog ticks," he said. "Now I'm seeing deer ticks, especially among sportsmen who are hunting their dogs in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. A blood test can tell if a dog has picked up a tick disease, giving us a head start with medications like doxycycline that can handle the infection.
"I had a hunting dog in the office recently suffering from polyarthritis, or multiple joint pain. That dog tested positive for four tick diseases: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. With treatment, the dog was healthy again in a short time."
Toennies recommends preventatives for dogs spending a lot of time afield. He likes topical treatments that have synthetic permethrin, like Vectra 3D. A monthly application can keep fleas and ticks away. He also recommends a dog vaccine for Lyme disease, a potion that does not exist for humans.
People can ward off ticks with insect repellents with 30 percent to 50 percent DEET. Permethrin, a powerful insect repellent, can be used on clothing but is harmful if applied to skin.
"Ticks are my life, and I often gather them when I'm outdoors," said Needham. "I want people who find a tick to email me (grneedham@gmail.com) photographs so I know what type it is. It's a good way to determine the range and population of various ticks in Ohio."
That's important, because the Ohio Department of Health lost state and federal funding to keep track of Ohio ticks, and tick-borne diseases.
Richard Gary, the agency's entomologist, is still consulting with county health agencies and veterinarians and tracking human illnesses from ticks. There were 67 cases of Lyme Disease among 93 cases of tick-borne diseases reported to the ODH in 2012.
"The low number of Lyme disease cases is not comforting, because figures show only about 10 percent of Lyme Disease cases are reported," said Needham.
Needham and Denise Ellsworth of the OSU Department of Entomology have developed a $10 online course teaching tick biology, identification and tick diseases. The course is available through the Ohio State University Extension web site,http://campus.extension.org.
The Division of Wildlife has tick information, photos and prevention techniques in the Deer Hunting Resources section of its web site, wildohio.com.
