• Wear permethrin treated clothing, boots & gear
• Use an EPA registered tick repellant product on exposed skin.
• Wear light colored clothing to spot ticks easily.
• Tuck long pants into socks and shirts into pants.
• Stick to the center of trails; avoid tall grass and brush
• Avoid sitting on logs or against trees.
• Avoid resting near rodent burrows/nests or sleeping in rodent infested buildings.
• Use a blanket/tarp as a barrier for resting on the ground.
• Protect your pets too!
• Control small mammal populations and habitats around your home.

• Use fine-tipped tweezers.
• Firmly grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible
• With a steady motion, pull straight up!
• AVOID twisting, crushing or jerking the tick as this may increase risk of disease transmission
• SAVE THE TICK in a small airtight container or sealable bag
• Wash hands and the bite area with soap and water or an alcohol based sanitizer.
• Sanitize tweezers or tick tool as well!
• NEVER use bare fingers, petroleum jelly, hot match, nail polish, essential oils or other topical products to remove a tick! These methods may increase the risk of disease transmission!
  

TYPES OF TICKS, DISEASES AND SYMPTOMS

Hundreds of species of ticks are found worldwide and nearly 30 of them in Colorado. Ticks transmit pathogens (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) and/or substances that can make humans, pets, horses, other livestock, and even some wildlife sick. Because symptoms may be vague or mimic other diseases, diagnosis is challenging.

INITIAL SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

• mild to severe flu-like symptoms: fever, headache, sweats, chills, fatigue muscle/joint pain or swelling, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and variable rashes.
• More serious signs can be carditis, facial palsy, encephalitis, shooting nerve pains, visual disturbances, shortness of breath, or cognitive changes.

RASHES

• Erythema migrans (EM )or "bull's eye" rash associated with Lyme disease develops in less than 50% of cases, or may show up in variable patterns, color, or number.
• Other rashes associated with tick bites can be hard to spot and many tick bites go completely unnoticed.

CHILDREN

• Children may develop symptoms different than adults.
• Lyme and many other TBDs can be transmitted congenitally from mother to unborn child.

Increased awareness of ticks and germs/substances they may transmit through a bite may aid in earlier diagnosis of diseases/conditions. Some of the more common ticks, TBDs & conditions that may be encountered in Colorado or throughout the US are listed below. Please visit www.coloradoticks.org for more detailed information.

TICK TYPES

• Rocky Mountain wood tick: Found in the Rocky Mountain States & SW Canada.
• American dog tick: Found nationwide.
• Brown dog tick: Found nationwide.
• “Soft ticks” : Found primary in the western US; including CO.
• Lone star tick: Found primarily throughout the eastern half of US, Distribution expanding; documented in CO.
• Black legged “Deer” tick: Found in over 50% of US counties.
• Western black legged tick: Found primarily along Pacific coast & western states.
• Pacific Coast tick: Found in Pacific coast states & Mexico.
• Gulf Coast tick: Found primarily in coastal states along the Gulf to the Atlantic; inward to Oklahoma & Kansas.

DISEASES & CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH TICK BITES

• Borreliosis (Lyme disease, Tick-Borne Relapsing fever)
• Babesiosis
• Bartonellosis
• Anaplasmosis
• Ehrlichiosis
• Rickettsiosis
• Tularemia
• Q fever
• Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness (STARI)
• Colorado tick fever virus, Powassan virus, Heartland virus, Bourbon virus.
• Tick paralysis
• Alpha- gal syndrome.