Ticked off on ticks

Q: I hear there’s a new tick out there that’s worse than the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease. How can I keep my family safe? -Wanda S., Lima, Ohio

A: We think you’re talking about the Asian longhorned tick, which is native to China, Japan and Korea, and was first discovered here in New Jersey in 2017. It has since spread to seven more states -- Arkansas, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. In the U.S., it doesn’t carry a virus or bacteria yet, but in Asia it does carry a virus, which reportedly kills 15% of the people it infects!

We think it’s more important to be concerned about ticks that are here now and transmit diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease and a few other not-very-fun illnesses. They can cause everything from fever and rash to chronic arthritis-like symptoms, encephalitis or even death; historically, 80% of folks with untreated RMSF have died.

Incidences of all these diseases have increased, from 19,804 cases confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2004 to almost twice as many -- 36,429 -- in 2016. But many cases go undiagnosed or unreported. Researchers at Harvard Medical School call the problem “America’s quiet epidemic of tick-borne diseases,” saying that there actually may be as many as 329,000 cases here every year. So, here’s your protection plan:

1. When heading outside (generally from April to September) apply an insect repellant with DEET to exposed skin and on clothing. For more info on repellants, go to www.epa.gov/insectrepellents.

2. When returning home from outside, check your clothes and do a full body search in the shower. Start at your feet, and work your way up to the top of your head, looking in all crevasses and skin folds. If you find a tick on you, remove it with fine-tipped tweezers and clean the site with soap and water or rubbing alcohol.

3. Protect your pets with a flea collar and inspect them using a flea comb to check through their hair/fur.