Ticks – Removal
Ticks are tiny bugs, about the size of a sesame seed, which feed on blood. Adult ticks can be distinguished from insects by having eight legs rather than six. They cannot jump or fly and do not drop from trees. They wait for hosts on the top of grasses and shrubs and attach themselves to the host as it brushes by.
While most tick bites do not result in disease some do. Ticks have been found in BC carrying the organisms that cause numerous diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Tularemia and Relapsing Fever. While the chances of getting these diseases are small, it is worth taking steps to avoid being bitten.
To protect yourself against tick bites:
Walk on cleared trails wherever possible when walking in tall grass or woods.
Wear light coloured clothing. Tuck your top into your pants and tuck your pants into your boots or socks and consider wearing gaiters.
Put insect repellent (containing DEET) onto clothing and all uncovered skin.
Check clothing and scalp (covered or not) when leaving an area where ticks may live. Make sure lighting is good so that you will not miss seeing the ticks.
Regularly check household pets, which go into tall grass and wooded areas.
Tick Removal:
Prompt removal of the tick is important, as the longer the tick remains on a person’s body, the greater the chance of disease transmission.
Traditional removal methods such as tweezers (with or without twisting), fingers, petroleum jelly, fingernail polish, applying kerosene or use of a hot match head are not recommended as any one of these procedures can cause the tick to vomit, defecate or urinate. This can increase the likelihood of infection as the infectious
agents are within the tick’s bodily fluids.
A new field technique for removal of ticks avoids any vomiting of the intestinal
contents of the tick. The equipment required for this technique is a piece of drinking straw and a piece of thread.
Step 1. The straw is placed over them wood tick and is held at a 45°. A piece of thread is placed around the straw and slid down to the skin.
Step 2 The thread is brought down against the skin around the tick’s jaw. A single knot is made and slowly tightened to close around the jaw of the tick.
Step 3 Remove the straw and pull gently upwards on the string. It may take up to a couple minutes for the tick to release. This method avoids regurgitation of infectious agents and the tick remains alive and in one piece.
After the tick has been removed, place it in a container with a piece of damp gauze. Label container with date shipped, name of person bitten, what part of body bitten, what part of the province the tick came from.
This container should be taken to your local health unit as soon as possible for testing at the provincial laboratory.
Once the tick has been removed, clean the bite area with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. Wash hands with soap and water.
If you have the following symptoms within days or weeks after being bitten by a tick please report them to
your physician immediately:
General symptoms of headache, muscle and joint pains, fatigue or weakness of the muscles of the face.
Skin rash, especially one that looks like a ‘Bull’s Eye’. It may or may not be where the bite was.
This tick bite could make you allergic to red meat—and it’s spreading
Alpha-gal syndrome, spread by bites from the Lone Star tick, was originally found primarily in the southeastern U.S.—but is now moving north and west as temperatures warm.
The sugar molecule is spread from the Lone Star tick bite, named for the single star-shaped spot marking on its back.
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of suspected cases in the United States has increased substantially since 2010—and some were identified in states not typically known as stomping grounds for these bloodsucking parasites.
Once bitten by a Lone Star tick, the body’s immune system is rewired.
You’re walking through the woods, and that tick has had a meal of cow blood or mammal blood, “The tick, carrying alpha-gal, bites you and activates your allergy immune system. From this, your body creates alpha-gal antibodies and, from that point on, the body is wired to fight alpha-gal sugar molecules. The majority of people who develop alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) realize their illness after eating meat, which is rife with alpha-gal. The sugar is also present in some medications that use gelatins as stabilizers.
There’s a time delay in the reaction, which accounts for why some people don’t always immediately realize they’re having a reaction. The alpha-gal has to first travel through your gastrointestinal tract to be released. Hours later, patients wake up with hives, shortness of breath, vomiting, and diarrhea.
In rare cases, patients have to be admitted to the ICU.
Some patients have had to be given life support because their blood pressure is so low that they’re in eminent danger of dying.
Most patients don’t know what they have. It often takes repeated allergic reactions for people to link their diet to their outbreak. Repeated exposure to tick bites can also worsen the severity of a reaction. Those who developed more alpha-gal antibodies from more exposure to ticks saw the most serious symptoms.
The allergy so far has treatments for side effects but no cure or vaccine.
Is it on the rise?
Originally found primarily in the southeastern U.S., the disease may become more common in farther north and western regions that experience warming temperatures.
The CDC does not log cases of AGS, so most of the previous reports of the rise in suspected cases have been anecdotal. But the new study—which examined antibody testing results submitted to the laboratory responsible for nearly all testing in the U.S.—found that the number of people who tested positive for AGS spiked over a five-year period: from 13,371 in 2017 to 18,885 in 2021.
Until cases were first identified about a decade ago, little to nothing was known about the origin of this meat allergy.
The awareness of alpha-gal has grown. It’s also possible that because allergies in general are going up, reactions to alpha-gal are increasing.
Studies have documented that warming temperatures have led to an increase in plant-based allergies from allergens like pollen.
Advancements in hygiene have led to a weakening of some of the natural immunity we develop to fight allergies.
As the climate has warmed, ticks have begun to spread their territory farther north.
Regardless, humans come into contact with ticks more frequently during warmer weather, and it is recommended warding off alpha-gal in the same way other tick-borne illnesses are prevented: use insect repellent, pretreat clothes, and avoid high grass and shrubbery.