Tick Bites

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

If you spend time outdoors or have pets that go outdoors, you need to beware of ticks. Ticks are small bloodsucking parasites. Many species transmit diseases to animals and people. Some of the diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

Some ticks are so small that they can be difficult to see. Ticks may get on you if you walk through areas where they live, such as tall grass, leaf litter or shrubs.

Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should

• Use a chemical repellent with DEET, permethrin or picaridin
• Wear light-colored protective clothing
• Tuck pant legs into socks
• Avoid tick-infested areas
• Check yourself, your children and your pets daily for ticks and carefully remove any ticks you find

Start Here

• Tick Talk: Block Tick Bites and Lyme Disease (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Tickborne Diseases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• Ticks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Symptoms

• Symptoms of Tickborne Illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Avoiding Ticks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Find the Repellent that is Right for You (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Stop Ticks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Treatments and Therapies

• Tick Bites, First Aid (Logical Images)
• Tick Removal (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Related Issues

• It's Open Season on Ticks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
• Preventing Ticks on Your Pets (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Tick-Borne Diseases (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
• Ticks: Geographic Distribution (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

• Anaplasmosis (American Lyme Disease Foundation)
• Babesiosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Heartland Virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Powassan (POW) Virus Basics (Minnesota Department of Health)
• Q Fever (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Tick Paralysis (American Lyme Disease Foundation)
• Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Travelers' Health: Rickettsial (Spotted and Typhus Fevers) and Related Infections (Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Statistics and Research

• Anaplasmosis: Statistics and Epidemiology (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Ehrlichiosis: Statistics and Epidemiology (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Illnesses on the Rise From Mosquito, Tick, and Flea Bites (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Q Fever: Statistics and Epidemiology (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Statistics and Epidemiology (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Taking the Bite Out of Vector-Borne Diseases (National Institute of General Medical Sciences)
• Unexplained Cases of Allergic Reactions Linked to Red Meat (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Q Fever (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Tick Bites (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Tick-Borne Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The alpha-Gal syndrome: new insights into the tick-host conflict and cooperation.
• Article: An updated meta-analysis of the distribution and prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi...
• Article: Preventing tick bites - Educational resources.
• Tick Bites -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Lyme Disease Foundation
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Children

• Hey! A Tick Bit Me! (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Tick Bites (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Tick Removal: A Step-by-Step Guide (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Colorado tick fever (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ehrlichiosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tick bite (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tick paralysis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tick removal (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Tularemia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish