Colorado Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Fact Sheet No

Colorado Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Fact Sheet No. 5.593 Insect Series|Trees and Shrubs by W.S. Cranshaw and F.B. Peairs* Ticks are blood-feeding parasites of Quick Facts animals found throughout Colorado. They are particularly common at higher elevations. • In Colorado, Rocky Mountain Problems related to blood loss do occur wood tick and American dog among wildlife and livestock, but they tick are the most common are rare. ticks associated with people. Ticks are most important because they can transmit diseases such as Colorado • Colorado tick fever is by far tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the most common tick- tularemia and relapsing fever. Lyme disease is transmitted disease of the an important tick-borne disease in much of region. Despite its name, the eastern United States. Fortunately, ticks Rocky Mountain spotted fever known to transmit it are not known to occur is quite rare here. in Colorado, and no confirmed cases have Figure 1: Adult ticks, engorged adult at left. originated in the state. • No human cases of Lyme Some 30 species of ticks occur in disease have originated Colorado. Table 1 lists the more common in Colorado. ones. Hard-shelled ticks (Ixodidae family) • DEET is the most effective tick predominate and are represented by such repellent. Apply it to pants or familiar species as the Rocky Mountain wood tick, American dog tick and brown dog tick. other areas of the lower body. Hard-shelled ticks have a distinctive plate • To remove a tick, grasp it with on the back just behind the head. At each blunt tweezers, as close to the stage of development, the tick attaches itself skin as possible. to a host, feeds for several days, becomes extremely bloated, then drops off the host. • The Rocky Mountain wood Soft ticks (Argasidae family) are much tick is relatively easy to less commonly encountered. They usually are remove because it has fairly found in the nests of their animal hosts. They short mouthparts. tend to feed intermittently but repeatedly, for Figure 2: Adult Rocky Mountain wood tick. only a few hours at a time. One exception is Photograph courtesy of Oregon State University. the spinose ear tick, rare in Colorado, that feeds for several months while attached to a large mammal host. Rocky Mountain wood ticks and American dog ticks are typical of a three- host tick. During each feeding stage (larva, Life Cycle of Ticks nymph and adult), the tick must find and Almost all human encounters with ticks feed on a different animal, because the tick involve either the Rocky Mountain wood tick drops from the host after the blood meal. or the closely related American dog tick. They Females lay their eggs on the ground. The have a typical life cycle that involves four newly hatched larvae seek a small mammal, distinct stages: egg, tiny six-legged larva or such as a rodent, as the first host. After © Colorado State University seed tick, nymph and adult. feeding, they drop to the ground and molt Extension. 5/00. Revised 7/14. to the nymph stage. The nymph then seeks www.ext.colostate.edu its own small mammal host. After feeding *Colorado State University Extension entomologists this second time, the nymph drops from the and professors, bioagricultural sciences and pest animal and molts to the adult stage. Adult management. 7/2014 Rocky Mountain wood ticks and American pants and other areas of the lower body Treatment of the dog is essential, using After walking through areas where likely to come into contact with ticks. one of the many flea and tick powders, ticks might be present, conduct a tick DEET can be an effective repellent for dips or collars. However, areas that the check to find and remove any ticks ticks as well as other biting arthropods, dog frequents, such as bedding and resting you may have picked up. such as chiggers and mosquitoes. However, areas, also need to be treated to kill residual the following precautions are encouraged: ticks. Vacuum cracks along baseboards 1. On children, do not use high where ticks may hide and spot treat these dog ticks then feed on a large mammal concentration formulations (above areas with insecticide. Discard the vacuum host, such as a dog or deer. After this 30 percent). bag and contents after treatment. feeding, the adults drop off the host and 2. Apply the repellent to clothing, rather If possible, wash bedding and all other mate, and the females lay eggs. It is the than to skin. materials. Because these ticks are sensitive adults that occasionally feed on people. 3. Do not apply DEET to hands or other to cold, storing infested items outdoors Ticks are highly sensitive to carbon areas that may come into contact with during very cold temperatures also can kill dioxide, which is exhaled by animals as the mouth. these ticks. It may take several weeks and they breathe, and seek it out. They often are 4. Do not apply to wounds or multiple treatments to eliminate brown poised at the top of vegetation so they can irritated skin. dog ticks. readily cling to passing animals. 5. After use, wash or bathe treated areas, A complete life cycle for these and other particularly on children. multihost ticks may take from a few months Permethrin (Permanone) is a new tick How to Remove a Tick to several years to complete. Its length is product. Apply it only to clothing, not to Once a tick has become firmly attached mostly determined by how successful they skin. It can kill ticks rapidly. Permanone to the skin, removal can be difficult and are in locating new hosts. They are highly also may have some repellent activity should be done with care. The mouthparts resistant to starvation and, if necessary, against ticks. are barbed, so they may remain after can survive several years without feeding. removal and allow infection. Fortunately, The common species are most active in late Wear Protective Clothing the Rocky Mountain wood tick, the most spring and early summer. If the tick has not Long pants, long-sleeved shirts and common species found in Colorado, is found a host by the time that hot summer other clothing can help exclude ticks or relatively easy to remove because it has temperatures arrive, it seeks cover under keep them from attaching to the skin. Ticks fairly short mouthparts. The recommended leaves and remains dormant until the next are usually acquired while brushing against procedure for removal of ticks is: year. Peak periods of tick activity can begin low vegetation, so pulling socks over the 1. Grasp the tick with blunt tweezers, as as early as March during warm seasons. bottom of the pants leg also is useful. Light- close to the skin as possible. If tweezers They usually subside by mid-July. colored clothing can make it easier to find are not available and you must use A multihost tick with a somewhat ticks that have been picked up. your fingers, cover them with tissue different life history is the brown dog or thin plastic to avoid the possible tick. This tick can breed continuously Conduct Tick Checks transmission of any disease organisms, indoors and may feed repeatedly on a such as tularemia, that the tick Ticks take several hours to settle and single (dog) host during each of the three may harbor. begin feeding. This gives you ample time development stages. 2. Pull the tick slowly and steadily, straight to detect and remove them. The Rocky away from the skin. Try not to crush the Mountain wood tick typically takes 12 tick as you remove it. Avoiding Ticks to 24 hours to start feeding. Therefore, a 3. After the tick is removed, treat the Avoid Tick Habitat thorough “tick check” can be an effective feeding site with a disinfectant. Wash alternative to repellents. After walking your hands when done. Avoid traveling through areas where through areas where ticks might be present, ticks are abundant. Ticks are most active in Many other methods have been carefully look for and remove any ticks you popularized to remove ticks, such as spring and early summer and concentrate may have picked up. where their animal hosts most commonly covering them with petroleum jelly or travel. This includes brushy areas along touching them with a hot match. These the edges of fields and woodlands or Controlling Brown Dog methods are not effective. commonly traveled paths through grassy Ticks in a Home A rare but potentially serious condition areas and shrublands. from tick feeding is tick paralysis. This Unlike the more common ticks occurs when certain ticks (in Colorado, (American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood Use Tick Repellents particularly the Rocky Mountain wood tick), the brown dog tick spends most of its tick) remain attached for a long period There are a few effective tick repellents. life around the dog host. It is a subtropical and produce an ascending paralysis. Early By far the most common is DEET (N,N- species that cannot survive outdoors year- symptoms, such as difficulty walking, diethyl-metatoluamide), the active round in Colorado. Infestations most often progress to more generalized symptoms, ingredient in most common insect develop in protected areas, such as kennels. such as limb numbness and difficulty repellents, such as Cutters and Off!. Apply After they have taken a blood meal, adult breathing. This condition is completely DEET directly to the skin or to clothing. ticks may crawl up walls and lay eggs in reversible when the tick is removed. Repellents are most effective if applied to cracks and corners of the room.

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