Warning on tick disease
Seasonal parasite alert for people and their pets
SWANSEA local Colleen Kennedy learned the hard way about a rare Tasmanian disease when a tick bite sent her temperature soaring.
“I was mowing the lawn, I wasn’t aware I’d been bitten on the back of my leg behind my knee,” she said.
Mrs Kennedy said she discovered a “strange” bite and scratched off what she later realised was the tick’s head, leaving a mark in her leg with a red ring.
Within a week she fell ill with chronic headaches, fevers of 39.1C and “body aches and pains like I’d never had before”.
“I couldn’t get out of bed to go the toilet my joints and body ached so much,” she said. “It was like my head was going to burst every time I moved. I was convinced I was dying.”
Mrs Kennedy had blood tests sent interstate for malaria, dengue fever and Ross River virus before finally discovering she had Flinders Island Spotted Fever.
The rare East Coast illness spreads via bacteria Rickettsia honei and is most likely to be acquired in spring and summer months.
Mrs Kennedy was prescribed a strong dose of antibiotic doxycycline and recovered after a month.
She still experiences fatigue relapses and said she now wore long trousers while lawn mowing.
Health department recommendations include using insect repellents and tick repellent, checking skin for ticks and using elevated camping beds.
The Dog Clinic owner Dr Raj Wicks said pet owners should also go to extra lengths to protect their animals from parasites.
He said worming dogs every three months and checking their skin would assist in preventing neurological issues, sickness, lethargy and paralysis. He said chews such as Bravecto, which is also used for wombat mange, kept ticks at bay.
He warned fleas could still cause problems, especially at East Coast hot spots like Swansea and St Helens.
“In sandy, dry areas ticks love to multiply,” he said.
Dogs can be checked for ticks by regularly massaging their ears, muzzle area and lip folds. “You can find them on their back or front legs, but they’re usually on the head,” he said.
Dr Wicks recommended using a proper tick remover from the vet if a small brown or grey tick was found. “Get the head out, if you leave it in there it can cause a reaction.”
He encouraged owners to take their animals straight to the vet or to AHVEC after hours if dogs became quickly ill or collapsed. People who have tick bites or suspect they have a tick-borne disease are urged to visit their GP.