Why ticks are so dangerous to humans and pets — Jiamei’s student essay

Why Ticks Are So Dangerous To Humans And Pets?

Everyone loves having a flurry animal in their life. Yet, our furry friends are an excellent breeding ground for parasites such as ticks. According to the CDC, the ticks need blood to survive, and they find their host through waiting on the tips of grasses and shrubs. They can sense their host by detecting body heat, body odor, moisture, and vibration. Once ticks chose you or your pet as a host, it can be dangerous to our wellbeing.

What happens when a tick picks your pet as a host? According to Pets & Parasite, after the tick feeds off your pet, it leaves a red and irritable spot on your pet skins. On rare occasions, a tick may cost your pet anemia if it consumes too much blood. Female ticks may release a toxin into its host, which can cause a rare paralysis.

Ticks are known to spread disease, and they do so similarly to how mosquitos do it. According to the CDC, when a tick sucks a host’s blood with bloodborne infection, the tick will ingest the pathogens with the blood. When the ticks move on to their next life stage, they will acquire a new host and inject the new host. As more and more animals get injected with the bloodborne infection, the more the disease will keep spreading. According to Healthline, examples of common ailments caused by ticks are Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia, and ehrlichiosis.

Close-up of Tick attached next to an Australian Shepherd's eye

Illnesses transmitted by ticks can “cause fever, anemia, paralysis, lameness, and other symptoms.” Ticks are usually found in animals, but humans can also be a victim to it. According to Healthline, you are most likely to encounter a tick if you go outdoors, where there are many grass and trees.

According to the article “Pet owners more likely to find ticks on themselves,” the author states that having a pet double the chance that humans will find a tick. Ticks are also more active during the warm season. Most ticks bite does not cause any symptom unless you can get an allergic reaction or carry diseases. If you think you are a host to a tick, it is generally found in “warm, moist areas of the body, such as armpits, groin, or hair.” They usually draw blood from “your body up to 10 days, and afterward, they detach themselves and fall off.” You should probably see a doctor if you have a fever after discovering a tick of your body.

tick crawling on human hand

The best way to prevent a tick from us and our pets, according to Petsandparasite, is to use tick control products. If you have a tick problem in your yard, you should cut your grasses and providing a “3-foot buffer between the lawn and any wood.” According to the Healthline, the best way for humans to prevent tick bites is to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants when walking in the wild. Remember to use “tick repellent; that’s at least 20 percent DEET.” Also, shower within two hours of being out and check your body for any parasites. If you find one, you can remove the tick with a tick removal tool or a tweezer. It takes over “24 hours for a tick to infect you with diseases, so the sooner you remove it, the better.”

Author: Jiamei Zhou

University of California, Santa Barbara

Sources

  • https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pets-ticks/pet-owners-more-likely-to-find-ticks-on-themselves-idUSKBN19S28W
  • https://www.petsandparasites.org/dog-owners/ticks/#:~:text=Ticks%20can%20attach%20to%20and,the%20same%20diseases%20to

    %20people.
  • https://www.healthline.com/health/tick-bites#preventionhttps://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html

Student Scholarships

Every year Thrive Pest Control hosts an essay contest and the reward is a 1-year scholarship at a 4-year university in the United States. This blog post is one of those scholarships.