Ticks have a potential life cycle of three years. I say “potential” because if the they do not have a host to feed on, if they do not get the blood supply they need to grow and thrive, they will die. Hence, the reason they are so persistent in their search for a host and active when the temps are wet, damp and above freezing. They have one focus and one focus only: find a host and feed.

I have people emailing me photos or coming up to me at events and asking, “What kind of tick is this?” or they say “I took a tick off of me but it was a teeny, tiny one so I’m ok, right?”

Please allow me to clear up any confusion on that subject matter with this simple statement: There are four life stages for a tick: Adult females lay eggs, eggs hatch into larva, larva turn into nymphs (tiny ticks) and as they feed, tiny ticks grow into adult ticks. Just like people, we all start off as babies and as we nourish and thrive, we grow into adults. The adult deer and dog ticks that we are seeing were once tiny baby ticks that fed and grew up. They are not a different species of tick; they are what they are only harder to remove and identify in their infancy stage. And because of that, they are far more dangerous. They are not easily seen as the nymphs are no larger than the head of a pin. Read that a few more times. Often mistaken for a freckle or speck of dirt until they begin feeding and soon you discover, you’ve been bitten by a tick.

Removing the tick is imperative as even the nymphs can transmit tick-borne diseases as they feed. Removing them, they may break into pieces. That’s OK. Get it all out, treat the bite site and send in the tick to be tested. Do not leave any parts in your body! Doing so acts like a cork in a bottle and traps in any bacteria and toxins you’ve been exposed to. Once you remove the tick, get it tested!

Residents of Maine can send the tick(s) into the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Tick Lab in Orono. Non-residents can submit to other labs (all tick testing information can be found on our website www.mldse.org under the TICK ID/TICK TESTING tab). The ticks do not need to be alive or even intact. Just fill out the online form, package up the tick and send it in. In one to three business days, you’ll receive an email report with information about your tick: Species, gender, last feed but more importantly, any pathogens it was carrying. This is important. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have that disease. But it will help medical providers know what you’ve been exposed to should you become symptomatic.

NOTE: Do not give the tick to your doctor or hospital provider. They cannot test the ticks in their offices, they do not have the right equipment and therefore, have no way of determining what, if any, pathogens the ticks might be carrying. Dog ticks do carry diseases in other New England states and the state of Maine will begin testing them in the Spring.

Not seeing the tick and becoming symptomatic with a tick-borne disease such as Lyme disease (that is known as that Great Imitator) is important because it will keep you from going down the wrong path for misdiagnosis and harmful treatment. For example, an unknown tick bite that produces Lyme disease without a bullseye rash and swollen joints can be mistaken for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and treatment for RA can suppress your immune system and allow the presence of a tick-borne disease to spread to organs and create even more damage. Or tick-borne neurological symptoms causing muscle fatigue and lesions on the brain can be misdiagnosed as MS or Parkinson’s and treatment might at first reduce symptoms but over time they return and soon you do not respond to your MS treatment because the root cause of your symptoms of a tick-borne disease infection in the brain. I know this all too well as I was misdiagnosed by twenty-three doctors and specialists before receiving a proper diagnosis. I am going on 5.5 years of full remission because I eventually received the right diagnosis and treatment.

So, no, those teeny, tiny ticks are not a new species. They are existing species here in Maine that hatched from eggs and are in search of their blood host to feed, thrive and grow in hopes of living out their three-year life cycle.

As always, prevention is key to staying tick-free and this time of year, ticks are very active and our risk exposure is much higher as we choose to spend more time outdoors, walking in the woods, hunting or raking up leaves. Know how to protect not only yourselves but your family and your pets as the weather changes and we layer on piles of clothing that make it harder to see when we’ve had a tick encounter.

*Keep wearing repellent on your skin. Ticks find us by our scent and repellents mask our body odors as we heat up under all those layers.

*Treat your clothing, especially your outerwear including hats, gloves and boots with Permethrin (or buy Permethrin-infused clothing). Permethrin kills ticks on contact.

*Keep treating your pets. Tick season is not over, in fact, ticks stay active in temps above freezing even in the winter. So, watch the thermostat NOT the calendar!

*Keep using your home cleaning products and yard treatments. Every little layer of protection lowers your exposure to having a tick encounter and thus, contracting a tick-borne disease.

Something to ponder: As winter approaches and we begin turning on the heat, remember that ticks live in wood piles. As you bring in wood, and things thaw and warm up, be on the lookout for tick activity. Treating the area that you store wood in your home with permethrin (wood boxes, rugs, etc.) will ensure a layer of protection so that as ticks become active, they will not find and feast on you in the middle of the night! Prevention is key to staying tick-free. Don’t become a statistic!!

Near Real-Time Data for Tickborne Diseases: (Jan. 1 to Oct. 12, 2019)

Lyme Disease = 726*, Anaplasmosis = 525, Babesiosis (Babesia) = 126

(*Lyme disease counts can appear low because there is a lag of up to several months between the first report of a case and its final classification)

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, former co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup and active in Maine’s Lyme legislation. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org or visit www.mldse.org