GBA 2022 - Summer Update

Anglers Are Vulnerable to Tick Bites LANDS AND FORESTS

By Bill Steiss, Chair, Fisheries Committee

A s an angler, I’m often treading along river shorelines or walking in tall grass and bushes. In the back of

Preventing Tick Bites Prior to setting out along a wooded path, or fishing along the banks of a river, the following precautions should be taken: ≥Wear light-coloured clothing as it’s easier to see ticks. Wear long-sleeved shirts and tuck pants into your socks (avoid shorts). ≥ Apply bug spray or other insect repellents that contain DEET (or icaridin) on exposed skin and always read the label on how to use it (anglers should avoid getting repellent on their flies or lures). ≥ Throughout the day, while visiting streams and walking on wooded paths, periodically check clothes, head gear, and body for ticks, paying attention to the scalp and behind the ears. ≥ Arriving home, kill any ticks that might be on your clothing using a dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes prior to washing them. A shower is also recommended as soon as possible to wash off any ticks. If possible, have a friend or family member help you check areas of your body you can’t see. How to Remove a Tick 1. Using fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the tick as close ≥Wherever possible try to remain on cleared paths.

my mind is the possibility that I may pass a shrub with a hungry tick waiting to bite me, and I may not even know it! As ticks are most active in the spring and summer, an unwary angler could be their next target. The Culprit and Where They Are Found Blacklegged ticks ( Ixodes scapularis ), also know as deer ticks, are usually found in wooded areas or in tall grasses, bushes, and shrubs. Some of these ticks carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease ( Borrelia burgdorferi ), and a bite from such a tick can cause the disease in humans. As climate change causes temperatures to increase, blacklegged ticks have been moving farther and farther north. According to Public Health Ontario, while the probability is low, you could encounter an infected tick anywhere in Ontario. Telltale Symptoms Most symptoms usually appear between three and 30 days after a bite from an infected tick. The classic presentation is a bull’s-eye rash that is round or oval, larger than 5 cm in diameter, or a bruise-like rash.

to your skin as possible. Be careful not to squeeze, as you might crush or damage the tick, which could cause the bacteria to pass from the tick into your bloodstream.

2. Pull the tick straight out, gently but firmly; don’t jerk or

Bull’s-eye rash

Bruise-like rash

twist the tweezers. Don’t use a lit match or cigarette, nail polish, nail polish remover, petroleum jelly, liquid soap, or kerosene to remove the tick. 3. Once the tick is removed, wash the skin with soap and water and then disinfect your skin and hands with rubbing alcohol or an iodine swab. 4. If possible, place the tick in a bottle with a screw top so it can’t get out or be crushed and contact your local public health unit.

Other symptoms may include fever, chills, headache, stiff neck, muscle aches, joint pain, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, spasms, numbness, tingling, and facial paralysis. Symptoms from untreated Lyme disease can last years and include recurring arthritis and neurological problems, numbness, paralysis and, in very rare cases, death. The good news is that in most cases, Lyme disease can be treated successfully with antibiotics. Contact your local public health unit or speak to a health care professional as soon as you suspect you have been bitten by an infected tick.

Source: Much of the information above and diagrams are from the Ontario government’s web site at www.ontario.ca/lyme .

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GBA UPDATE Summer 2022

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