Forget the Woods: Those Tiny, Tenacious, Terrible Ticks May Be Lurking Outside Your Door
By Bill Cowley
New Jerseyans have the most of everything. The highest population density, the densest system of highways and railroads, the most major shopping malls in a 25-mile radius, the most TV reality shows, and even the highest concentration of 24-hour diners.
Unfortunately, according to the American Lyme Disease Foundation, New Jersey also has one of the highest deer tick populations and the dubious honor of being among those states having the most reported cases of Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease, with more than 2,000 cases confirmed annually in New Jersey, is a tick-transmitted bacterial infection with debilitating symptoms that can cause a wide array of neurologic illnesses including encephalitis. The risk of being bitten by an infected deer tick is greatest in the summer months when the nymph stage is active and people, especially children, are most active outdoors. The deer tick is also a carrier of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) and babesiosis. There are two other disease-transmitting ticks in New Jersey: the lone star tick associated with human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME), and the American dog tick associated with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), the most common fatal tick-borne disease in the United States.
New Jersey ticks are acarines, or small arachnids, closely related to spiders, scorpions, and mites. They are parasites that feed exclusively on blood. Ticks don’t fly, jump or fall from trees; rather, they “quest,” which is perching in low vegetation and waiting for a host to brush by. Once on a host, the tick attaches its hypostome, a fish-hook like piercing clamp, into the host's skin and fills up with blood like water balloon. Ticks in NJ cause diseases because they are not one-way valves. While feeding, it releases some of its own potentially disease-laden blood containing bacteria, spirochetes, rickettsiae, protozoa, viruses, and nematodes. With just a single tick bite, you or a family member can receive a toxic brew of multiple pathogens.
Tick control begins at home. One of the biggest misconceptions about ticks is that you can only get them trudging through deep forests and areas with high vegetation. Studies have shown that about 70% of people infected with Lyme disease are bitten by ticks right in their own backyard.
As larvae, ticks feed from small mammals like white-footed mice and meadow voles. The ticks ingest and store infected blood from these reservoir hosts and then progress into their tiny nymph stage. As nymphs, they inhabit vegetation as low as 4-6 inches, vegetation that can be found in anyone’s own yard. This nymph period is especially dangerous because the ticks are so tiny yet still carry potentially infected blood causing tick-borne illnesses that can be difficult to diagnose and treat.
For effective tick control and reducing the risk of your family or pets suffering tick bites, homeowners need to implement two related strategies. Both are necessary; one without the other isn’t enough. The first strategy is outdoor habitat modification. You want your lawn and landscaping to be unattractive to ticks. This includes discouraging potential tick-carrying rodents and other hosts from entering your property as well as creating an environment unsuitable for tick survival for those who manage to sneak in. Regularly mow the lawn, trim back overhanging shrubs, limit birdfeeders to winter months, and remove leaf litter, plant debris, and other potential tick harborages.
The second strategy is the prudent use of low environmental impact tick treatments. In residential areas where ticks are abundant, treatments are necessary to reduce tick populations. Tick treatments are amazingly effective when used selectively and intelligently. You want to specifically time and target treatments to those areas where ticks breed and quest rather than just attempting some haphazard application and hoping for the best. A professional pest control firm will maximize the effectiveness of the treatments while using the least amount of product to get the job done. Also, no tick control method is 100% effective. Personal protection should always be practiced – even in your own backyard.
If you enjoy outdoors activities and are in areas where ticks in New Jersey may be present, be safe. Reduce your exposed skin where a tick can attach by wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants. Tucking your pant legs into your socks further blocks direct access to your skin. Use repellents containing DEET. Be vigilant about inspecting yourself, your kids, and your pets.
The sooner you remove a tick, the better. Ticks have to feed for at least 12-24 hours before they can begin to transmit the Lyme Disease bacteria and other pathogens. Ticks embedded in the skin should only be removed by grasping the tick with pointed tweezers as close to the skin as possible and applying firm, steady backward force. Don’t squeeze the tick or try killing the tick by burning it off or using alcohol while it is attached. Doing so will traumatize the tick and cause it to regurgitate pathogens into your bloodstream.
What should you do if bitten by a tick? If you are a Monmouth County resident, tick identification and testing is offered by the Monmouth County Mosquito Commission, 1901 Wayside Road, Tinton Falls. This service is a “first alert” for people receiving a tick bite and provides useful information to you and your doctor in evaluating and making diagnostic/treatment decisions. Tick testing is not a substitute for monitoring your own clinical symptoms since you may have had other tick bites. Ticks can be submitted for species identification, the tick’s development stage, and the tick’s engorgement to help you assess the risk of having received Lyme Disease or some other tick-borne illness. There is no charge to Monmouth County residents for this service. If a tick is identified as a deer tick, which is a carrier of Lyme Disease, DNA testing is available to determine whether the tick is carrying the Lyme Disease organism, Borella burgdorferi. If a tick is positive, the risk of infection is increased but is not confirmed. Only your doctor can diagnose whether you have Lyme disease.
At the Commission, ticks can be tested either dead or alive. However, do not place ticks in tape; doing so makes identification and testing more difficult. It is best to use a small vial or zip-lock baggie with a cotton ball soaked in plain tap water. There is a $25 fee to cover the cost of testing. Only personal checks are accepted and ticks must be submitted in person at the Commission. For more information about these services, link to:
http://www.visitmonmouth.com/documents/61%5CTICK%20IDENTIFICATION%20AND%20TESTING%20BROCHURE.pdf.
If you are an Ocean County resident, use the Rutgers Extension of Ocean County at 1623 Whitesville Rd, Toms River. For Middlesex County residents, use the Rutgers Extension of Middlesex County at 42 Riva Ave, Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, South Brunswick (mailing address is North Brunswick).
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