The warm-weather months provide opportunities for us to work and travel outdoors. As we move about, it’s easy to encounter ticks. These biting insects can transfer various illnesses to both humans and our pets.
Lyme disease is one of the most often discussed concerns. While it is possible to contract Lyme disease here in California, most of these cases are found on the eastern seaboard.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer the following tips to avoid ticks and advice on what to do if you are bitten:
Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks
- Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
- Walk in the center of trails.
Repel Ticks with DEET or Permethrin
- Use repellents that contain 20 to 30% DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) on exposed skin and clothing for protection that lasts up to several hours.
- Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
- Other repellents registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Western Blacklegged Tick is common in California.
Find and remove ticks from your body
- Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (preferably within two hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks that are crawling on you.
- Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and day packs.
- Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors.
- If the clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperature water will not kill ticks effectively. If the clothes cannot be washed in hot water, tumble dry on low heat for 90 minutes or high heat for 60 minutes. The clothes should be warm and completely dry.