The Telltale Tickle of Ticks Part 3: Tick-Borne Diseases
- Nina Munckhof
- Apr 10
- 8 min read
You now possess a wealth of knowledge about ticks.
You know their lifecycle. Learned their anatomy. Realized that these little crawling critters are more prevalent than you thought. (If you don't know these things, you need to read The Tell-tale Tickle of Ticks Part I: Introducing the Tick and Part 2: An Embedded Feast and the Famine of Extraction)
In addition to the heeby-jeebies and twitchy itches you're experiencing, your mind might be racing. You're aware that ticks transmit diseases...
Take a breath... Another one please...
We're going to talk tick-borne diseases today.
Please remember, I am a Registered Veterinary Technologist. I'm just presenting the information I have gathered. I cannot diagnose disease, nor prescribe medications, but I can provide you with accurate resources to help you be aware of the disease risks that ticks present. If you feel you are at high risk of exposure, or want further diagnostics for you or your pet, you need to discuss it with your healthcare team, or veterinary team!
This is the side of ticks that is not enjoyable to discuss. I have friends who have been diagnosed with Lyme, or whose pets have died of tick borne diseases. There are members of the Search and Rescue community that I worked with who have contracted diseases due to ticks picked up on a search tasks. Tick-borne disease is real. There isn't a cute or light-hearted way to talk about this, so this blog article might seem a bit heavy compared to the last two. Stay to the end, please. I promise, I have a story to make you giggle and lighten it up.
How Ticks Spread Disease
There's a reason you have learnt so much tick anatomy. Ticks have evolved an efficient method of feeding - their mouth is designed specifically for obtaining a blood meal!
Remember, ticks don't bury their head in your skin. They anchor themselves by resting their palps on your skin and secrete cementum to glue themselves in place. They make a small cut with the chelicerae, then insert the hypostome into the skin. The hypostome is a straw-like organ, enabling the tick to suck the blood up. Then they spit back into their hosts, until they sip again. (Similar to a toddler using a straw the first few times!)
It's this sucking and spitting method of feeding that is the source of tick borne disease. The cycle of disease begins when a tick ingests a pathogen from an infected host. These disease pathogens can be bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins! Depending on the pathogen, the tick incubates and carries the pathogen to a new host. Infection occurs in the new host when the tick feeds, drawing blood and introducing pathogens into the bloodstream. The disease cycle continues and spreads, as the tick grows through it's life stages and feeds on it's varying hosts.
Tick-Borne Disease Resources
Ticks serve as vectors transmitting diseases between humans and animals, known as zoonotic diseases. Common zoonotic diseases you may have heard of are rabies, bird flu, and Lyme disease. There is increasing collaboration between the fields of human and veterinary medicine to help bring awareness and prevention of zoonotic diseases.
The different species of ticks and their tick-borne diseases varies depending on where you live in the world! While the American Dog Tick is the prevalent species here in BC's Okanagan, that changes as you move to BC's coast, or across the Prairies to Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. It changes again as you move into the United States and around the world! This is why knowing resources that are applicable to your area helps!
I have compiled a list of Tick resources for you. Please keep in mind that research is always evolving and some data isn't necessarily shared. The ease of travel for both ourselves and our pets can expose us to different diseases, and may not always be reported accurately! These sites are primarily Canadian focused, and both veterinary and human health based. They all have links to other sites, so if the information isn't pertinent to your area, you can keep looking!
ETick
Website: www.etick.ca
Also available as an app!
This site is great for submitting information about ticks you have found, both on your or your pet! You can also learn more about the different species of ticks and help identify the type of tick you have found.
website: www.ticktalk.com
Created by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association to create awareness!
Love their tick map by province - helps you to know what species are common in your area. They also have lots of great FAQS, and information links.
Challenge yourself to the Tick Quiz!
Website: www.tickmaps.ca
Map of Tick Activity current and forecasted! This is why reporting ticks you have found is so important! It's a simple way you can help with research about these species and their spread.
Website: https://geneticks.ca/tick-testing-statistics-british-columbia/
A great site that shows the results of tick testing from 2018-2023. Thankfully there are lots of green dots for my local area. What about yours?
CanLyme - The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation
website: https://canlyme.com/
This website is a great resource for Lyme disease support and information!
An initiative that unites human health, veterinary health, and environmental sectors to monitor the spread of zoonotic diseases.
You will find links to One Health through most health and government sites, such as Interior Health (Okanagan), the Gov't of Canada site, and World Health Organization (W.H.O.)
Tick-Borne Diseases:
After you have removed a tick, it's always a good idea to wash the area with a gentle disinfectant. There is a small wound where the tick bit you, so keep it clean and monitor the site for infection.
You can keep the tick if you'd like, but make sure the container seals completely!
More importantly, make notes of
Where the tick was removed from.
The date the tick was removed
Where you might have picked up the tick (Area you hiked/walked through.)
This information may become important if you notice signs of tick-borne disease at a later time. Ticks spread the disease by spreading bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins into the bloodstream of their host. Many of these pathogens cause diseases which exhibit flu-like symptoms to start, but then progress over time. Others may have specific symptoms that are exhibited. Either way, if you suspect tick-borne disease, please contact your medical doctor or veterinarian to obtain diagnosis and treatment.
Lyme Disease
When we hear the word tick, many of us associate Lyme disease with it. Lyme, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sp. bacteria is also known for it's target shaped markings on the skin around the tick bite. This reaction doesn't always occur, or can be missed if the bite is in an area that is not easily visible. Symptoms include headache, fever, fatigue, depression and skin rash, and may progress to joint, heart, & nervous system disease. This progression can be debilitating and last a lifetime. It can be treated with antibiotics if treated early, but it often brushed off due to it's initial flu like symptoms.
More cases are being found in BC, often related to travel to an area where Lyme disease is prevalent. In BC, less than 1 percent of ticks tested carry the bacteria B. burgdorferi that cause Lyme disease. Although the number of ticks submitted for testing has increased in recent years, the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in ticks has remained consistently low over time. This is primarily due to the Ixodes Sp. in BC being Ixodes Pacificus, vs Ixodes Scapularis. (BCCDC- Lyme Disease)
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
The name says it all! This disease, caused by Rickettsia rickettsii bacteria, is also hard to diagnose early due to flu like symptoms: especially fever, spotted rash, with a known history of tick bite. It's tell-tale symptom is a spotted rash usually seen 2-6 days after bite, that progresses from the extremities (hands and feet) towards the trunk of the body.
Treated with antibiotics if caught early, but it can be fatal, progressing to neurological, respiratory and systemic issues.
Tick Paralysis
If you are a fan of the TV show House, you might recognize this disease. In Season 2, Episode 16, Dr. House is confident his patient has a tick born disease, but they cannot find the tick and she is not allowed outside due to her immune compromised system. I won't spoil the ending, but it's a classic dramatic House diagnosis: Tick Paralysis! Yes, this disease is real.
The paralysis is caused by venom secreted from the female Dermacentor sp. tick during feeding. It usually occurs in children and pets, or the immune compromised. Symptoms start 4-7 days after attachment and include: tingling, trouble swallowing, loss of movement, and double vision. If you notice these signs, see your doctor/veterinarian for treatment: including removal of the tick and possibly antibiotics. While not reportable/tracked, there are few cases presented each year in the South Okanagan.
Other tick-borne diseases are possible. Some of the diseases listed below are more prevalent in other areas of Canada and the United States, or may be more of a risk to our pets than to ourselves. To create awareness, they are listed below, with some quick notes:
Anaplasmosis:
Bacteria: Anaplasma phagocytophilum.
Ixodes sp. ticks, can carry this bacteria.
To date, there have been no reported human cases in British Columbia, but the bacteria has been found in ticks sampled on southern Vancouver Island.
Babesiosis:
Parasite: Babesia sp. which infects red blood cells.
Ixodes sp. ticks, can carry this parasite.
To date, there have been no reported human cases in British Columbia, but the parasite has been found in ticks sampled in the Lower Mainland and Gulf Islands.
Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever
Bacteria: Borrelia hermsii
Spread by Ornithodoros hermsi ticks, a soft bodied tick hosted primarily by rodents.
In BC, there are 0 – 7 cases of TBRF each year.
Tularemia
Bacteria: Francisella tularensis
Wild and domestic animals can carry the bacteria esp. beavers, hares, muskrats, rabbits, and rodents.
Very rare in humans
Thank you for enduring to the end of the not-so-fun discussion about tick-born
diseases. You might be itching to dive into the next article, or perhaps you're feeling like Miya, one of my Shiba Inu clients. Miya came to visit the clinic where I was working because she had a tick on her nose. I swooped in, took the tick off in a few seconds with my handy tick hook, and our interaction was done! Well, Miya decided that I was worse than that tick on her nose! She wanted nothing to do with me after that! The hilarious part? I strolled past her owners' shop four times a day on my work commute! From that day on, Miya became my unofficial announcer, howling every time my footsteps scuffed the sidewalk outside her shop! Every nail trim or coffee chat with her owners earned me the legendary Shiba side-eye. I don't think she ever forgave me. I'm sure the day I cross the rainbow bridge, she will howl to let everyone know I'm there!
So, you can choose to be like Miya, and side-eye me because of the ticks...
Or, you can learn how to decrease the possibility of contracting a tick-borne disease by reading The Tell-tale Tickle of Ticks Part 4: Tick Bite Prevention (Coming soon).
You can also be like Miya and tell the world that I'm here, by howling and sharing my blog articles with your friends!
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