RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) share tips for preventing tick-related illness.
Ticks are arachnids, like scorpions, spiders, and mites. All ticks have four pairs of legs as adults and have no antennae. Ticks spread disease by attaching to a host and feeding on its blood. Ticks live in grassy, bushy, or wooded areas. Ticks are common in Virginia and can be active on warm days at all times of the year due to suburbanization, the abundance of deer in suburban forests, climate change, and land development.
“Tick bites can cause a number of potentially serious illnesses,” said Richmond and Henrico Deputy Director Melissa Viray, M.D. “Knowing where ticks live and how to protect yourself and your family can keep outdoor adventures safe and fun this summer.”
RHHD offers the following tips to help you stay safe from tick-related illness during the summer months.
- Prepare your clothing a few days before going outside in grassy, bushy, or wooded areas where ticks are common.
- Treat clothing ahead of time with permethrin. This treatment with will last on clothing, socks, and shoes for several months. Dried permethrin spray will remain active after several washes. Be sure to apply it to clothing a few days before use to allow for proper drying. Do not wear clothing that is still wet from permethrin spray. Ticks will die before they can bite you if they come in contact with permethrin-coated shoes, socks and pants.
- Tuck your pants into your socks, especially if you’re headed into a grassy or forested area. Forcing ticks to climb up the outside of your clothing will help you spot and remove ticks before they can reach your upper body. Use an EPA-registered insect repellent on your skin. If you’re adventuring with kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that their insect repellent contains no more than 30% DEET.
- When outdoors in forested tick habitats, use insect repellent containing either DEET, picaridin, IR 3535, 2-undecanone, or oil of lemon eucalyptus on skin or clothing. Always follow instructions on the product label.
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol should never be used for children under three years of age.
- Do not use insect repellent on babies under two months old.
- Make tick checks a habit. Once you’re indoors, inspect your clothing and body for ticks. Make sure to inspect children’s clothing and bodies if they cannot do so themselves. Inspect gear and pets as well. Tumble dry clothing on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any remaining ticks.
- Use a mirror, friend, partner, or spouse to help check your body for ticks. Remember to check in armpits, groin area, in and around ears and hairline, belly button, backs of knees, and between legs.
- Remove ticks the right way. If you find a tick, use tweezers and grip the insect as close to your skin as possible. Pull directly up with steady, even pressure until the tick releases. Do not “squish” the tick. Clean the area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Save the tick in a bag or container with rubbing alcohol for identification in case an illness develops in the days to weeks following a tick bite.
- Identify the tick. Use the VDH tick identification chart to identify the tick that bit you. It can be helpful to identify any tick that bites you so that if you get sick, you and your care providers have more information.
- Submit a tick survey. Help VDH better understand our local tick population by saving the tick in a bag or container with rubbing alcohol and submit a tick survey and photo.
- Seek care. If you start feeling sick or develop symptoms like a rash or fever a few days or weeks after a tick bite, make sure to tell your medical provider that you were bitten by a tick.
Tick bites are associated with a number of serious and potentially life-threatening medical problems, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Alpha-gal food allergy, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis. For information on the number of tick-related illness cases in Virginia, visit the Virginia Reportable Disease Surveillance Dashboard.
For more information about identifying ticks and protecting kids and pets, visit VDH’s “Don’t let the tick get you sick” webpage.
For more health and safety information, follow RHHD on Instagram at @richmondcity_hd and on Facebook, visit rhhd.gov, and sign up for RHHD’s monthly newsletter at rhhd.gov/news.
