Thanks for your report smakb. Scary stuff.
I've done a bit of hiking during summer in the Northern hemisphere and there are bloody ticks everywhere. I put it down to the large population of wild critters carrying them about, mostly deer IMO which are also starting to spread about here in Aus. Once Lymes gets a hold, there is not much we can do to control it, but we can take steps to prevent getting infected. Here's what I do:
1. Pre-trip, I treat my baselayers with some of Dr Deb's permethrin goop. It smells awful, but that goes away after a while and the stuff does seem to repel the buggers.
2. I wear long sleeves and long leg clothing when travelling through the landscape (my trips are hiking trips). This is usually not so hard as even in summer it is usually relatively cool where I go.
3. I carry tick removal tools with me. It is important to remove the tick without crushing it's body. Crushing it's body injects it's stomach contents into your skin. The ones I favour are called 'Tick Twister' and you might find them at the vet shops up north but if not they are on ebay.
4. Whole body tick inspection each night. You want to get these critters off your body as soon as possible. The longer they are on you, the greater the chance of passing on the disease. AFAIK, not all Ticks carry Lyme disease but you never can tell if the tick on your arm has it, and in any case Lymes is not the only infection they can carry.
I used to buy Dr Deb's direct via post, but I have seen it at Paddy Pallins the last couple of years. Here is the product instruction sheet and a video of it's use:
Dr Deb's Permethrin Soak Product Sheet
And the info on the Tick Twister: Tick Twister web page
Interestingly, the Vets are well aware of Lymes disease and they even had a vaccine at one point but it was withdrawn, can't remember why but I remember that it was a hot topic at the time.
Good luck with the treatment, I hope it goes well!
I've done a bit of hiking during summer in the Northern hemisphere and there are bloody ticks everywhere. I put it down to the large population of wild critters carrying them about, mostly deer IMO which are also starting to spread about here in Aus. Once Lymes gets a hold, there is not much we can do to control it, but we can take steps to prevent getting infected. Here's what I do:
1. Pre-trip, I treat my baselayers with some of Dr Deb's permethrin goop. It smells awful, but that goes away after a while and the stuff does seem to repel the buggers.
2. I wear long sleeves and long leg clothing when travelling through the landscape (my trips are hiking trips). This is usually not so hard as even in summer it is usually relatively cool where I go.
3. I carry tick removal tools with me. It is important to remove the tick without crushing it's body. Crushing it's body injects it's stomach contents into your skin. The ones I favour are called 'Tick Twister' and you might find them at the vet shops up north but if not they are on ebay.
4. Whole body tick inspection each night. You want to get these critters off your body as soon as possible. The longer they are on you, the greater the chance of passing on the disease. AFAIK, not all Ticks carry Lyme disease but you never can tell if the tick on your arm has it, and in any case Lymes is not the only infection they can carry.
I used to buy Dr Deb's direct via post, but I have seen it at Paddy Pallins the last couple of years. Here is the product instruction sheet and a video of it's use:
Dr Deb's Permethrin Soak Product Sheet
And the info on the Tick Twister: Tick Twister web page
Interestingly, the Vets are well aware of Lymes disease and they even had a vaccine at one point but it was withdrawn, can't remember why but I remember that it was a hot topic at the time.
Good luck with the treatment, I hope it goes well!
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