 Personal
Protective Measures
Proper
Removal of Ticks
Pet
Protection
Residential
Property Management
Additional
Prevention Resources for
Kids and Parents
Educational Materials
and Strategies for Health Educators
Personal Protective Measures
Lyme disease (LD) is preventable. Avoid areas
heavily infested with ticks (woods, tall grassy areas).
When in grassy or wooded areas, use the following
precautions to avoid tick bites and protect yourself
and others from LD infection:
Before entering tick-infested areas:
- Use tick repellent according to the directions
on the product label. Children should use
tick repellent with a maximum of 30% DEET; the
repellent should be sprayed on their skin and clothes.
- Wear light-colored clothes to help spot ticks.
- Wear protective clothing (long pants and long-sleeved
shirts, tuck pant legs into socks, and tuck shirt
into pants)
- Shoes (no open toes)
- Check frequently for tick attachment, especially
areas where clothing meets the skin, such as the
waistline.
At the end of the day:
- Thoroughly
check entire body (head to toe) on yourself and
your children for attached ticks; if outside
with pets be sure to check them for
ticks too.
Proper Removal of Ticks
It is very important to remove ticks properly.
Mark your calendar on the date when a tick is taken
off your body. This information will be useful
to your doctor.
 PDF
printable version
Figure: Proper
removal of ticks [Courtesy of CDC].
|
Remove a tick from
your skin as soon as you notice it. Use fine-tipped
tweezers to firmly grasp the tick very close
to your skin. With a steady motion, pull the
tick’s body away from your skin. Then
clean your skin with soap and warm water. Throw
the dead tick away with your household trash.
Avoid crushing the tick’s body. Do
not be alarmed if the tick’s mouthparts
remain in the skin. Once the mouthparts are
removed from the rest of the tick, it can
no longer transmit the Lyme disease bacteria.
If you accidentally crush the tick, clean
your skin with soap and warm water or alcohol.Don’t
use petroleum jelly, a hot match, nail polish,
or other products to remove a tick. |
|
[TOP]
Pet Protection
Household pets may carry ticks inside the home.
- Talk to your veterinarian about tick control
products.
- Try to prevent pets from going into areas infested
with ticks (woods, fields).
- Brush loose ticks off before letting pets into
the house.
- Remove all ticks in the same way you would from
yourself.
CDC
Lyme Disease and Animals
[TOP]
Residential Property Management
If your home borders wooded, brushy areas, implement
one or more of the following landscaping strategies
to reduce tick density:
- Keep the grass in your yard cut short.
- Remove leaves and leaf litter.
- Clear brush from the yard.
- Impose dessicating barriers by placing wood chips
where lawns abut forest or dense vegetation.
- Consider the use of acaricides (tick-killing
chemicals, like carbaryl cyfluthrin or deltamethrin)
in early May to reduce ticks around the property. Consult
a certified pest control professional.
- Consider excluding or removing deer.
 CDC
brochure Tick
Management Handbook for a complete listing
of additional landscaping methods to reduce tick
density.
Additional Prevention Resources for Kids and Parents
KidsHealth:
Lyme Disease for Kids Page
|
|
are PDF. Download