Tick Bites

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Basics

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

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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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

• 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 to Avoid Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Tick Bites, First Aid (VisualDX)
• 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
• Regions where Ticks Live (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Tick-Borne Diseases (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)

Specifics

• About Powassan Virus Disease (Minnesota Department of Health)
• Babesiosis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Heartland Virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Q Fever (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Anaplasmosis: Epidemiology and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Ehrlichiosis: Epidemiology and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Illnesses on the Rise from Mosquito, Tick, and Flea Bites (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Q Fever: Epidemiology and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF): Epidemiology and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Taking the Bite Out of Vector-Borne Diseases (National Institute of General Medical Sciences)

Clinical Trials

• 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: Yezo Virus Infection in Tick-Bitten Patient and Ticks, Northeastern China.
• Article: Bacterial Agents Detected in 418 Ticks Removed from Humans during 2014-2021,...
• Article: Skin infectome of patients with a tick bite history.
• 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

• First Aid: Tick Bites (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Hey! A Tick Bit Me! (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• 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