Ticks & Tick Borne Diseases

Lyme Disease
For information on Lyme disease, refer to one of the links below or contact Washington County Public Health at 518-746-2400.
  1. What is Lyme disease?
  2. Where is Lyme disease found?
  3. What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
  4. How can I safely remove a tick?
  5. What else can be done?
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Preventing Ticks on Your Pets

Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tickborne diseases. Vaccines are not available for most of the tickborne diseases that dogs can get, and they don’t keep the dogs from bringing ticks into your home. For these reasons, it’s important to use a tick preventive product on your dog. 

Visit the CDC's site on Preventing Ticks on Pets here: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/avoid/on_pets.html

Make your own Tick Removal First Aid Kit!

Making your own kit is easy and you probably have everything you need right at home.  By putting together the kit, you won’t have to waste time finding everything if there is a tick bite.

All you need is fine tipped tweezers, alcohol swabs, bandaids and a zip up baggie to keep it all in.  You can even print out the New York State Department of Health’s “How to Safely Remove a Tick” card and put in the baggie with the rest of your kit! Once you have your kit together, you can put it in a place where you will know where to find it.

Click Image to go to NYSDOH Tick Removal Card

MYO Tick Removal Kit

How to Make Tick Tubes

In the video below from Now You Know, learn how ticks work and how to help eliminate ticks and Lyme disease from around your house with permethrin, cotton balls and toilet paper tubes.

Mice and rodents are common ways that ticks pick up lyme disease.  The mice will used the permethrin treated cotton balls as nesting material and in doing so will kill the ticks that come in contact with them. 

Tick Prevention: Tick Removal

Ticks can carry disease so it’s important to check yourself, your family and your pets for ticks and know how to promptly remove a tick if you find one attached.

Tick Prevention: Clothing & Repellents

Ticks can spread disease. Not all ticks can cause disease and not all bites will make you sick, but as these diseases become more common it's important to learn how to prevent a bite.  Watch the video below to learn how to protect yourself.

Tick Prevention: Collection

Learn how New York State collects ticks for testing in this video below:

Tick Prevention: Testing

Once the ticks are collected, they are brought back to the lab for testing.  Watch the video below to find out how the tests are done.

Anaplasmosis - Another Tick Borne Disease

Anaplasmosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilium.  This pathogen is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected tick.  The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the vector of A.phagocytophilum in the northeast. 

The first symptoms of anaplasmosis typically begin within 1-2 weeks after the bite of an infected tick.  A tick bite is usually painless, and some patients who develop anaplasmosis do not remember being bitten.  The following is a list of symptoms commonly seen with this disease.  However, it is important to note that few people with the disease will develop all symptoms, and the number and combination of symptoms varies greatly from person to person.

*  Fever                                       *  Nausea/Abdominal Pain
*  Headache                                *  Cough
*  Muscle Pain                             *  Confusion
*  Malaise                                    *  Rash (rare with anaplasmosis)
*  Chills

Anaplasmosis can be a serious illness that can be fatal if not treated correctly, even in previously healthy people.  The severity of anaplasmosis may depend in part on the immune status of the patient.

Healthcare providers may find important information in the patient's history and physical examination that may aid clinical diagnosis.  Information such as recent tick bites, exposure to areas where ticks are likely to be found, or history of recent travel to areas where anaplasmosis is endemic can be helpful in making the diagnosis.  The healthcare provider should also look at routine blood tests, such as a complete blood cell count or a chemistry panel.

Doxycycline is the first line of treatment for adults and children of all ages and should be initiated immediately whenever anaplasmosis is suspected.
Contact your Doctor if you suspect a tick bite and you are having symptoms.

Prophylaxis (Preventive Treatment)

People who experience a tick bite should be alert for symptoms suggestive of tick borne illness and consult a physician if fever, rash, or other symptoms of concern develop.