Ixodid tick what it is: what it looks like, where it lives

Hello friends! Sometimes it surprises me a little that if people see a huge mosquito, then it’s “malarious” right away, and if someone is bitten by a tick, something about encephalitis will invariably sound in a conversation. I always wanted to bring a little clarity to this issue.

Today I would like to talk about what it is - an ixodid tick. Such ticks really carry encephalitis and other diseases, but I want to reassure you right away: not every tick is necessarily ixodid. A detailed story about them is in my material!

Ixodid tick what it is: how they look, where they live

Ticks of the order Ixodidae are considered the main distributors of encephalitis and other dangerous diseases. The most terrible for humans and animals are ixodid ticks, the structure of which will be considered in detail today.

A typical representative of ixodid ticks is canine and taiga, they are abundant in Russia.

Learn their structure, distribution on the example of the most famous dog tick (Ixodes ricinus).

General characteristics of ixodid ticks

International name: Ixodes ricinus (I.ricinus)
Type: Arthropoda (Arthropoda)
Class: Arachnids (Arachnida)
Subclass: Mites (Akari)
Family: Ixodic
Order: Ixodidae
Genus: Ixodes
Its life cycle takes from 1 to 3 years.

Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease are some of the most important human infectious diseases transmitted by I. ricinus in Europe.

Here is a list of the main diseases that he suffers:

1. Tick-borne encephalitis;
2. Lyme disease
3. Tularemia;
4. Typhoid fever;
5. Hemorrhagic fever.

The favorite habitats of this tick are coniferous and mixed deciduous forests.

A dog tick has no particular taste preferences and is ready to feed on the blood of more than 240 species of animals and birds. He does not disregard people and pets. Dogs, less often cats, suffer from his bites.

However, it predominantly infects small rodents, birds, and small and large mammals such as hedgehogs, hares, squirrels, wild boars, and roe deer.

The structure of the ixodid tick

Ixodes ricinus (family of hard ticks - Ixodidae). They are called solid due to the presence of a chitin plate, which protects the body from drying out and damage.

The body of the tick is oval, the average size of a hungry adult parasite is up to 4 mm. After they drank blood, increase in size to 20-30 mm, and sometimes whiter than 15 times.

A hungry mite is brown in color, but as soon as it is drunk with blood, it acquires a gray-steel color.

In the process of feeding, saliva is produced, which contains anticoagulants, anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-hemostatins, which contribute to the process.

There is disagreement over whether it is right to say that a tick bites or punctures the skin. The fact is that the tick has neither an upper nor a lower jaw. He can't bite.

A tick cuts through the skin with the help of knife-shaped mouth parts (chelicera) and pushes its "proboscis" (hypostome) into the fossa formed. The hypostome has teeth that fix the tick with food. With this hypostome, she sucks blood from the resulting wound.

Ixodes ricinus has no eyes, but there is a sensory organ called the Haller organ, which is used to detect changes in the environment, such as temperature, carbon dioxide, humidity and vibration, which can indicate the best time to search for food.

Immature forms are much smaller, so a well-fed larva reaches a size of 1.2 mm, and a nymph up to 4 mm.

It should be noted the differences between larvae and nymphs from adults. In adults, sexual dimorphism is very pronounced. Larvae have three pairs of legs, while nymphs and adult ticks have 4 pairs. On the legs there are special outgrowths that allow you to stay on the body of the owner.

Morphological features

Ixodes ricinus - relatively small ticks, females are slightly larger than males. Larvae have three pairs of legs, while nymphs and adults have four pairs.

In males, it covers the entire body, but in females, only partially. Ixodes ricinus can be mistaken for other tick species, such as Ixodes hexagonus and Ixodes persulcatus.

Where parasites live

Dog ticks prefer habitats with vegetation that maintain high humidity, such as deciduous forests and where the microclimate and food are suitable for the development of all four stages of life.

Suitable places include: meadows, wastelands, rough pastures, city parks, as well as deciduous and coniferous forests.

Ixodid ticks are sensitive to climatic conditions, they require a relative humidity of at least 80%, it is desirable that these are areas with moderate and heavy rainfall, and the soil and litter layer remain moist throughout the day.

How many ixodid ticks live

The average life of the tick is from 1 to 3 years. Females live longer and drink blood more often, but males die after fertilization of a female.

For each stage of tick development, he needs blood. But if there is no blood, the tick will not die of hunger, but simply slow down in development. And as soon as he has the opportunity to find a victim, he will replenish the necessary supplies.

An experiment was conducted in which an adult tick without nutrition lived in the laboratory for several years. Lack of food is not so critical for the parasite. But if there is low humidity, the ixodid tick does not survive, but simply dries from dehydration.

Ticks are characterized by two periods of activity, which are then replaced by prolonged diapause. The ixodid tick is active in the spring from May to June and in the fall from late August until the first cold weather.

How ticks find their owners

Ticks cannot fly or jump. Instead, they are waiting for their prey, climbing to a height of up to 1.5 meters (adults). Larvae and nymphs do not rise above 0.5 meters. They climb shrubs, low trees, grass.

In order to find its prey, the tick is located at the very tip of the plant, holding on to its hind legs.And they keep their upper (front) legs outstretched, as if expecting the opportunity to quickly climb a potential victim when they pass by.

The tick has on its front legs a very sensitive organ (Haller or Haller organ) that responds to temperature and CO 2. Thus, the parasite recognizes the victim and clings to it tightly.

After the tick has attached, it begins to look for a suitable part of the body for food. This may take several hours.

When the ixodid tick finds a feeding place, it captures the skin and cuts into the surface. The tick then inserts its feeding tube. Many species also secrete a cement-like substance that keeps them firmly attached during meals. The feeding tube may have spines that help keep the tick in place.

Mites can also secrete a small amount of saliva with analgesic properties, so the animal or person cannot feel that it has attached.

While the tick is waiting for its prey, it loses moisture, sometimes it has to go down the vegetation to rehydrate, so the period of hunting directly depends on temperature and humidity.

Returning to layers with higher humidity reduces the likelihood of quickly finding a victim, consumes his energy reserves and the ixodid tick may die.

How ticks spread the disease

An Ixodid tick will join the victim and will slowly suck blood for several days. If the host animal has certain blood-borne infections, such as Lyme pathogen or tick-borne encephalitis, the tick can swallow the pathogen and become infected. If a tick later feeds on a person, that person may become infected.

If you remove the tick quickly (within 24 hours), you can significantly reduce your chances of getting the disease transmitted by the parasite. It takes some time for the bacteria that cause Lyme disease to move from the tick to the host. The longer the parasite attaches, the greater the risk of acquiring the disease from it.

Can be in the apartment

Mites alone will not come to your home. But they can bring a pet on their wool. This raises the logical question of whether the parasite can survive in the apartment.

Oddly enough, but if he finds a secluded wet place, then he can sit in it for up to a year without food.

Therefore, if a parasite has been noticed in your home, be sure to treat all the hidden corners with an insecticide, such as Dichlorvos. Take your pet to the vet clinic and have a thorough examination of its coat, especially the ears.

Symptoms of the presence of a parasite in animals and birds

It was noted that ixodid ticks are more fond of dogs than cats. You can find them on animals in the ears, on the head, neck, under the tail, inguinal zone. Therefore, it is recommended to inspect your pets after each walk.

Who are ixodid ticks

Ixodid ticks in the home are called encephalitis. There are more than 600 species of blood-sucking ticks in this family. Ixodid ticks can be found in different habitats around the world, they parasitize on large and small mammals, birds and even reptiles. Some of them carry tick-borne encephalitis and others, even more dangerous diseases for humans.

How are they arranged

Compared to other ticks, ixodidae are giants up to 4 millimeters in size, visible to the naked eye. The body of the ixodid tick is not segmented and consists of two parts: gnatosomes and idiosomes.

The gnatosome is usually called the head, but, strictly speaking, this is not the head, but the front part of the tick’s body with the tools necessary for successful immersion in the host’s skin: pedipalps, chelicerae and hypostomes (proboscis). The idiosome, the body of the tick, is covered with a cuticle that can stretch many times to accommodate the blood drunk by the tick. The body mass of the fed tick can increase several times.

How ticks attack people

The ixodid tick climbs onto a blade of grass, stretches its front paws in front of itself and waits for the host to pass. On the paws of the tick there are suction cups and a pair of claws that help to stay on the host's body.

The tick does not attack immediately. A person has two to three hours to avoid being bitten and possibly infected. The tick first for a long time selects a place where it can be sucked, and then it begins to cut the skin with chelicera, it penetrates there with a hypostome - the proboscis with teeth - to firmly root in the host's body.

Due to the composition of the tick saliva, the host does not feel an invasion of his body. The proboscis of the tick is enveloped in a case made of saliva, which protects against the immune response from the host and increases the permeability of blood vessels. Before attacking and sucking, the tick searches for the most attractive places using specific receptors. He needs blood vessels close to the skin. Basically, they are located where the skin is thinner, for example behind the ears.

Ticks never jump on the head, usually they do not climb to a height of more than one meter. Ixodid ticks prefer shaded areas with dense grass stand. A prerequisite is moderate humidity: they do not tolerate too dry places. You can catch a tick not only in the forest: it is also dangerous to walk in untreated city parks along tall grass and bushes. In cities, grass is mowed and parks are chemically treated to get rid of ticks.

Why are ticks dangerous?

Ixodid ticks carry diseases of viral, bacterial and protozoal origin, that is, these diseases cause viruses, bacteria or simple organisms that enter the bloodstream with tick saliva. Of the viral diseases, the most famous and epidemiologically significant is tick-borne encephalitis.

Of the bacterial, borreliosis is best known. The most dangerous protozoal diseases are babesioses, which excite the simplest organisms - babesias. There are a number of little-known viral diseases: Omsk hemorrhagic fever, Crimea-Congo fever, rickettsioses.

Ticks bite only people

Encephalitis is dangerous not only for humans. Ticks are happy to attack both wild and domestic animals, representing a big problem for agriculture. Ixodid ticks have two main strategies for parasitism. The first is pasture-lurking: ticks wait on a blade of grass and attack large animals. The second is a nesting and nesting: the tick does not wait for its owner, but searches for it in the shelter, climbing into the hole of a mammal or bird's nest.

Modern ticks (for example, Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes persulcatus) are committed to one of two strategies. But there is a curious sight - Ixodes trianguliceps. This relict species, which penetrated Siberia in the preglacial period, was still part of the fauna of the Tertiary period. He has a mixed host search strategy, he is able to eat in nests and burrows, but he can also wait for the owner on a blade of grass.

How ticks themselves become infected

Ticks carry infectious agents from one animal to another. If a clean tick attacks an infected rodent, it infects itself and can transmit the infectious agent to the next host organism. Animals not only support and carry pathogens over a small distance within their range.There are known cases when birds infected with the Far Eastern species of borreliosis ended up in Europe.

A three-host tick, on the contrary, disappears after each feeding and then searches for a new host. It is capable of attacking and, therefore, infecting several organisms. Also, during reproduction, transmission of infections with male sex cells to the female’s body is possible.

What is Lyme disease?

The most common tick-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere is tick-borne borreliosis, often called Lyme disease. It is caused by spirochete bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia garinii and others).

Borrelia actively move, circulate in the bloodstream and affect the internal organs, musculoskeletal system, heart, nervous system. Immunity can rarely fight borreliosis, since borrelia form biofilms, protecting themselves from the body's immune response.

Symptoms of borreliosis appear ten days after a tick attack. Usually it is muscle pain, fever, rash. In the early stages, Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics, and a neglected form can lead to death.

What is tick-borne encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis virus attacks the nervous system, affects the substance of the brain and spinal cord - this can lead to serious neurological and psychiatric complications and death. In Russia, there are three main subspecies of encephalitis: European, which affects people in the western part of Russia, Siberian and Far Eastern.

The Far Eastern subspecies of the virus is most dangerous, its bite leads to death with a probability of 80%, if you do not take emergency prevention and treatment. The European subspecies is an order of magnitude less dangerous; mortality is about 6%.

Tick-borne encephalitis medicine has not yet been invented, it cannot be cured, so it is important to prevent infection in time.

Is it possible to catch encephalitis not from a tick

Tick-borne encephalitis virus enters the human body not only with the bite of ixodid ticks. Cases of infection have been recorded in other ways, for example, through thermally untreated goat milk. To protect yourself from this, it is enough to boil milk for two to three minutes. Tick-borne encephalitis virus is not transmitted from person to person.

What to do if you are bitten by a tick

Tick-borne encephalitis virus is successfully treated if timely measures are taken. With a tick attack, you have three days, or 72 hours, to administer immunoglobulin. For those who spend a lot of time in nature, it is better to take a vaccination course against tick-borne encephalitis. But the danger of ticks is not limited to encephalitis.

Visual inspection also gives a positive effect. Often, at the place of suction of the tick, a migrating erythema is formed - a strong redness of the skin in the form of a ring, which gradually expands. This is a sure sign that you have caught borreliosis.

However, the absence of erythema does not mean that you have not received your portion of Borrelia.Cases of non-erythema forms can only be diagnosed by laboratory tests. In any case, it is necessary to go with or without a tick to the nearest first-aid post. Procrastination can cost health, if not life.

How is the life of the tick

The life cycle of an ixodid tick consists of four morphological phases, two of which are separated by molting. It all starts with an egg. The tick larva hatches and does not immediately begin to search for the host, since during this period the parasites are in the process of further development.

Many ixodid ticks at this moment have only three pairs of legs, like insects. Once the development is complete, young larvae begin to actively search for hosts for feeding.

Most often, small burrowing mammals or nesting birds become victims of ixodid tick larvae. After feeding, the larva undergoes transformation to a nymph (first molt). Next - again, the search for the owner, if it is a multi-host tick, and the next preparation for the transformation.

The nymph already has four pairs of legs and is close to the formed adult, an adult. The nymph has many sub-phases - morphological changes in the body of the tick. After the nymph has been fed, the cycle repeats: it can fall off onto the litter and turn into an adult or feed on the already found host.

Male and female can meet on the host's organism - in the wild this is observed very often when the animal gains several tens of ticks at a time. But there is the possibility of meeting a partner outside the body of the animal.

Both females and males feed on blood. Sexual dimorphism in females and males is pronounced. Males are usually smaller than females. In males, a large scutellum, scutum, covers almost the entire area of ​​the body, in contrast to females. The body of the female should be stretched in large volumes: the female is able to feed for several days, weeks, and even months.

Basically, females are a factor in infection with tick-borne infections, since they are fixed on the host's body for a long time to save a lot of blood for feeding offspring.

A male, often, only half an hour is enough to get enough and fall off - during this time not every infectious agent can have time to pass along with saliva.

Usually males attach to the fed females - a hungry individual will not be able to produce offspring. Having laid eggs, the female tick dies after a few days, having undergone irreversible changes in the digestive system and the decay of internal organs.

Depending on the climatic conditions (season, ambient temperature), the egg-laying process can last from a couple of weeks to two to three months.

Where did the ixodid ticks come from?

Hematophagous ticks that feed on the blood of other animals are very ancient organisms that lived in the time of dinosaurs. There are no finds that accurately confirm that the ticks bit the dinosaurs, but we can assume that.

Who can eat a tick

Ixodid ticks can feed on lizards, amphibians and fish, but the body of ticks is very sclerotized, so they are not of great nutritional value.
source: https://postnauka.ru/faq/88103

The tick tick: what to do when bitten by a tick, the most popular myths

Than warmer days, however, more than tours and simple people like to eat kebabs chosen on the basis of nature. So long as you eat well, you eat greasy meat, sitting on a dish, eat it, which, when you are satisfied, allows you to eat the tick, it eats you actively. And if only I ate - this is still wherever I went. It can still be infected, such as borreliosis or encephalitis.

Therefore, it is worth knowing the enemy in person. And even though there would be an approximate provision for something that, against it, does not work, and something does not. So.IKCODOBY KLESCH Ikcodovy klesch otnocitcya to cemeyctvu papazitifopmnyx kleschey of klacca paukoobpaznyx and cchitaetcya ocobo opacnym, tak kak mozhet pepenocit boppelioz (in RESIDENCE baktepy, naxodyaschixcya in zheludke) and entsefalit (vipuc, naxodyaschiycya in papazita in clyune).

There are red and wild mites - they differ insignificantly, and are very good at surviving in winter, when they become active when the temperature reaches 5 ° C. However, the mite doesn’t know how to play, almost doesn’t know how to climb on the trees - it generally rises slightly from the ground, so it is only in the background.

The mite knows how to crawl only up - therefore, the main mode of protection is that the correct clothing will be provided from the mite, so that the small part should not be allowed to go low. Chemistry and replentants from the very best will help. There is a special chemistry against ticks - ox, they are not like these gadgets!

What to do with a tick bite

If this is the most tick-borne mite before you got it and appetized it with your teeth in the skin - the first thing you need to do is to pull it out. Ho - wisely, but to aggravate the situation. If the worst is the case - without the need for a special accessory - keep the fingers close to the door so that you do not have to wait a little while

After that, disinfect the product and hands. If there are special tools for extracting ticks - cheers. It is still possible to use tweezers, or a small little of thin thread, thrown between the carcass and the delicate - all the same, better than the big hands. Pull out the mites - be sure to handle the antiseptic.

There are three main scenarios:

• nothing to do. Earn a bolt. He bit it - and hen with it. Symptoms will appear - then and react. So, just before you start the treatment - then the lower probability is that something will help a bit. However, most of the ticks are harmless, and the power of the Russian “big one” is great.
• Take the tick to the laboratory. Yes, a lid can be investigated, found at some place inside and on the basis of this, to assign a treatment. So far, only Medica do not like to drag every tick on an examination. When, for example, bit the autopsy of this article, at this point this part was simply pulled out and told to turn around, if any problems arise. It is not excluded that in the places, where the epidemiological situation is even worse, the ticks are related more strictly.
• Go to the hospital and get treatment. This can be done in advance - before the onset of symptoms, for any reason. Plus - your chances are still increasing. Minus - the cost of kurca, well, all the extra time to take serious medication - that’s another satisfaction. So here, the course is the striking dose of the wide-profile antibiotic (such as doxycycline, etc.) - For 3 days, immunoglobulin injections - Also for 3 days. And all this should not be started later than on Day 3 from the moment of tick bite. If everything is done clearly - as a preventive measure, it helps a lot even not bad. Of course, the chance to forget all the same remains, but where a little less than it was originally.
• If you are vaccinated against encephalitis Remove the ghoul and burn the surface. In case of encephalitis infection, the ill-health is controlled by the virus without a problem in 97% of cases. There is no infection from boreliosis.

The main symptoms of the disease

Encephalitis can be easily confused with the usual OPBI. Only the weakness and temperature will be much higher. In the initial phase, of course. Then, if you are unsuccessful, you will turn on neurological simpotomatika - and this can already be quite bad.

In B0, the percentage of cases is the final outcome. Anything quite serious is this disease. With borreliosis, it’s simpler - there, in the place of a bite, a specific mark will appear - a developing spot. Yeah, that’s not to be confused with anything. However, this disease is treated relatively lightly and almost does not give consequences. And yes, if in the first 2 weeks after the bite of a tick you have nothing to observe - rejoice, you did.

Myths and misconceptions about ticks

1. Tick ​​vaccinations do not help. From boreliosis and some nepriyatnyh sores - yes. And here from encephalitis - very much even. And if you take into account that giving end from encephalitis is possible not illusory, then it’s better to take it. A good thing to treat as the case arises.
2. But traditional medicine helps. Like the placebo effect, by the way. Or a banal case. In any case, if the problem is in Virusax - the interface is interfering. If in bacteria - eat antibiotics. And you will be happy. With an immunoglobulin, by the way, it’s also not so simple, but it’s an essential benefit.
3. Ticks must be lubricated, then they will come out. He is excluded. But before that - they will observe you in the soul, more precisely - in the blood. A lot of things are in the vomit vomiting and will contain bacteria that cause boreliosis. A virus that causes encephalitis - in general, at the very beginning of the process of cocoa fall, since they live in salivary glands.
4. Tick ​​poison must be squeezed out. Excuse me, poison? Any attempts to "extrude" - on the other hand, activate microcirculation of an affected area and evil viruses are already active.
5. Some have innate immunity. There is no existing and persistent immunity to the causative agent of encephalitis. Generally. A smaller number ignores the vaccinations simply because of the inconsistencies and do not know theories.
6. The ixodid tick differs in appearance. No, it’s not different. Only a microbiological study will allow you to find out if your health is bitten or infected.

A nice news now.According to statistics, only 5 out of 100 ticks are all kinds of dangers. And only every two-bit bite of a tick causes a disease. To ecstatically dare to hope for the probability and remove. In any case, even from encephalitis, they die from strength in 3 percent of cases. So that purely theoretically, the chance to die from a bite of a tick is approximately equal to the chance to win in the lottery. True, what an epound, but not a jackpot. Are you ready to open?
source: https://lastday.club/iksodovyj-kleshh-chto-delat-pri-ukuse-kleshha-populyarnye-mify/

What do ixodid ticks look like, where they live and when they are more active

It will be easier to protect yourself from the bite of an ixodid tick (Ixodoidea) if you know the habits of this awaiting parasite and its habitat. Now more and more often we hear about cases of encephalitis infection in the central regions of Russia. Ixodid ticks carry the causative agents of Lyme disease (borreliosis), encephalitis, and others. In order to avoid the bite of this "beast" you must first know its habits and habitat.

Description of the ixodid tick

Dangerous diseases are mainly transmitted by two types of ixodid ticks: the European forest tick (Ixodes ricinus) and the taiga tick (Ixodes persulcatus).

Ixodid ticks go through several stages in their development. First it is a larva, then a nymph, and then an adult. The hungry European tick is small, so it is so hard to notice. The male is only 2.5 - 3.5 mm, the female is 3.5 - 4.5 mm. But as soon as they get drunk blood, their body increases to 1.1 cm. The body color is brownish-brown, and the glossy shield is dark brown. A sucking tick becomes light gray.

Along the way, I note that a dangerous infection can be transmitted in the most incredible way. For example, unboiled goat milk can cause encephalitis.

Who tolerates ixodid ticks

Rodents (voles, shrews, etc.) carry ticks. Zoologists warn about how many dangerous things are hidden in the needles of hedgehogs. Even moles, martens, hares and birds can contribute to the transmission of ticks. Ixodid ticks are used by many domestic animals not only as a donor, but also as a vehicle. Dogs and cats also catch ticks and transfer them to the house or to the owner’s site.

Yes, and people themselves contribute to the spread of ixodid ticks. They bring them on their clothes, in baskets with mushrooms and in bouquets of wildflowers. Ticks can enter the area with spruce branches (usually from the lower branches and from trees lying on the ground) or with hay, grass and fertile soil from the field and forest.

Dangerous seasons

Mites can be affected year-round. Some individuals can not sleep even in winter and early spring. They are found in a heap of hay or in the grass on the openings above the heating mains. Veterinarians know that a dog can get sick with pyroplasmosis even in winter. At our friends, the dog suffered from the “January” tick, which turned out to be in the hay when changing the litter in the booth.

Summer time cannot be considered safe, although there are fewer ticks. The tick is active in the morning and in the late afternoon. On a hot afternoon in a sunny place, he is inactive, but in the wet grass and in the shade he continues to wait for the victim. On a warm night, you can also pick up a bloodsucker. In dry, hot weather and in heavy rain, ticks hide.

Where ticks live

Ticks live in grass and low shrubs, not at heights. They do not climb trees, only hemp. They love forests (especially spruce, birch and mixed). They prefer logging, undergrowth, and grassy areas of the forest. Trampled ground and paved walkways are not for them. High (from 7 cm) grass is their habitat. The lower the grass, the safer it is.

Pastures and meadows are also teeming with ticks.There are also on the roadsides covered with grass. Residents of the villages near Moscow know how many dogs walking only on their sites or along roadsides fell ill with pyroplasmosis. They took off ticks and Muscovites after walking in parks or squares of the capital.

Do not sit in the forest on stumps and on a bed of leaves. A tick usually awaits its prey on the sidelines of forest paths, in river thickets and on forest edges. There are many bloodsuckers and on pastures.

The tick does not fly and does not jump from the tree for prey. He studies the situation, climbing onto the tip of a blade of grass. He has a wonderful scent. The bloodsucker feels its victim at a distance of 10 m.

He calmly waits for the approaching donor, then puts forward his legs with tenacious hooks, after which he clings to his hair, skin or clothes and looks for a suitable place for a bite, climbing up the clothes. This most often takes from a few minutes to several hours.

Any trip to nature should end with a thorough examination of a person. No need to shake off your clothes at home or in your area. Better over a bathtub, sink, etc. After walking in the forest, you should take a shower. This will not take much time, but will reduce the risk of getting a deadly disease. Of course, clothing should protect people from ticks.
source: https://www.podmoskovje.com/iksodovye-kleshhi/

Ixodid ticks: protective measures

A picnic, garden work, and even a regular walk in a city park can be overshadowed by ixodid ticks. Timely protective measures will protect you from these malicious arthropods.

Ticks are especially active from mid-spring to late autumn. The bite of a forest ixodid tick is unpleasant in itself - it can cause inflammation and an allergic reaction. But in addition to this, ticks can transmit tick bites of tick-borne viral encephalitis (CVE), tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) and a number of other serious diseases when they bite.

Tick-borne Lyme Borreliosis is an infectious disease with a rather insidious character, as its symptoms resemble SARS: cough, runny nose, headache, weakness. Symptoms of a viral infection can last up to three months. The bite site takes the form of a spot with bright edges.

Ticks, unlike insects, have four pairs of legs (insects have three pairs). These are bloodsuckers, parasites of mammals, birds. Usually adult hungry females attack a person. Their bodies are flattened, brick red or brown, with a dark or ornamented shield. Ixodid ticks are widespread in mixed forests, but now you can meet them both in garden plots, and in summer cottages, green areas of cities, parks and squares. Especially a lot of them on the forest edges, in the thickets along the banks of streams, on the sidelines of forest roads and paths.

Ticks spend most of their life in loose forest litter, leaving the area to search for prey. Active in the morning and evening hours. Ticks climb grassy plants to a height of one and a half meters, where they loot prey, putting forward the first pair of legs. They cling to animals or people passing by, but do not crawl onto trees and do not fall from above. The bite of the parasite is painless, although the proboscis penetrates deep into the skin.

How to protect yourself from ticks

Before traveling to an area with an increased risk of tick-borne encephalitis infection, a preventive vaccination should be given; it can be delivered at a district clinic, medical center or vaccination center.Vaccination should be taken care of in advance, at least 21 days before the trip (with an emergency vaccination schedule).

When going to the forest, you need to dress so that the tick can not get under the clothes. A shirt with a buttoned collar and long sleeves with an elastic band or tight-fitting cuffs should be tucked into trousers, and your hair should be tucked under a headscarf or hood. Trousers to fill in boots or socks with a dense elastic band. Special protective anti-mite overalls are also great for walking.

Wear light-colored clothes in the forest - it is easier to spot ticks on light-colored fabric. Treat clothing with special acaricidal and repellent agents that kill or repel arthropods. Inspect clothing for half an hour. Detected ticks are desirable to destroy. It’s better not to sit and lie on the grass, and park and spend the night in the forest on sites without grass.

Having returned home, again inspect the clothes (the things in which you go to the forest, store in a non-residential premises).
Ticks usually select areas with delicate, thin skin: neck, armpits, inguinal region, auricles, scalp. Examine pets before letting them into the house.

Be careful: ticks can be brought into the house with forest flowers, mushrooms, berries. The incubation period of tick-borne encephalitis lasts up to 30 days (an average of 7-14). If you are bitten by a tick, pay attention to your well-being during this period.

What to do after a tick bite

It is better to remove the tick in the emergency room, clinic or other health care facility. For self-extraction of the tick, you can use a curved surgical clamp type "mosquito", anti-mite loop or curved tweezers.

If there is nothing at hand except ordinary tweezers, then he will do. The tick must be clamped with tweezers as close as possible to the base of penetration beyond the trunk. Gently, without pressing, grab the tick, make several full revolutions (2-3). Disinfect the bite site (70% alcohol, 5% iodine). After removing the tick, wash your hands thoroughly with soap. If the head or the proboscis of the tick comes off, a black dot remains on the skin, which must be treated with 5% iodine.

The tick should not be thrown out if the risk of infection with tick-borne infections is not excluded. Mite testing is desirable but not necessary. Prevention of encephalitis should be carried out without waiting for the results of the study of the tick. The presence of the pathogen in the tick does not mean at all that a bitten person will get encephalitis or borreliosis, and a negative result does not always guarantee that the disease will not develop.

If the bite occurred not in the Far East, not in Siberia, but in the country house or in the suburbs, most likely, the bite will not affect health. If you were bitten in a high-risk area, put the removed tick in a small glass bottle with a tight lid and put a slightly damp piece of cotton wool or paper towel there. In a closed vial, it can be stored in the refrigerator until it is possible to deliver it to the laboratory for analysis (preferably within 2 days).

After removal of the tick, monitoring of well-being is necessary, and if symptoms appear that may be a manifestation of a tick-borne infection, you should consult a doctor. Always first contact an ambulance for an initial consultation by calling 03, or from a mobile phone by 112. Depending on your well-being and clinical picture, you will either receive a call from a team or be transferred to a doctor for consultation by phone.

In an ambulance, do not forget to find out where in your area you can make an emergency injection with an anti-encephalitis immunoglobulin. Tick-borne immunoglobulin is a domestic drug that contains ready-made antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis virus. There is one imported drug - FSME-Bulin (FSME-Bulin, Immuno AG, Austria).

If you have fever, weakness, headache, muscle and joint pain, inflammation or redness around the site of the bite, consult a doctor immediately. A blood test should be taken to determine the presence of the disease. For tick-borne encephalitis, you can take an analysis no earlier than 14 days from the date of the tick bite, and for borreliosis in three weeks.

What to do after a tick bite, advises Elena Bakanova, a leading researcher at the Laboratory of Disinfestation Problems of the Federal State Institution of Scientific Research Institute of Disinfectology:

• The faster the tick is seen and removed, the less likely it is to become infected.
• You can’t crush the tick with your fingers, as infectious agents (tick-borne encephalitis viruses) can enter the human body through slightly damaged finger skin (scratches, microcracks).
• The removed tick must be examined for contamination.
• If you are going to regions where tick-borne viral encephalitis has been infected, take a preventive vaccine.

Emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis

Do not self-medicate. The decision to administer drugs can only be made by a doctor. Another thing is that the right medicine may not be. Emergency prophylaxis of tick-borne encephalitis is carried out using antiviral drugs or immunoglobulin.

If you are going on a trip through the forest, buy in advance the drugs Yodantipirin and Immunoglobulin. It is used for emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis in adults and children from 14 years of age). The drug destroys the tick-borne encephalitis virus within a few days from the moment of infection with a bite of an ixodid tick. Start your intake on the first day.

Iodantipyrine is not a substitute for vaccination! Adults are given free of charge when contacting a special point. They do not protect against tick-borne borreliosis and other infections.

In the case of a tick bite for children for emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis, it is recommended to use Anaferon for children in doses: under the age of 12 years, 1 tablet 3 times a day, over the age of 12 years, 2 tablets 3 times a day for 21 days (tick-borne incubation period encephalitis), which prevents the development of the disease.

There are no vaccines against tick-borne Lyme Borreliosis yet. For the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease, doxycycline, amoxicillin and other tetracyclines are used. For the prevention of borreliosis, a course of antibiotics can be prescribed. But the decision on the need for such prevention can only be made by a doctor.
source: https://www.supersadovnik.ru/text/iksodovye-kleshchi-mery-zashchity-1002853

Ixodid ticks

In recent years, early spring has been observed and, as a result, early activation of ticks, which begin to “wake up” when daytime temperatures rise above + 5 ° C. The body of the tick is flat, the abdomen is red-brown or brown. At the front end of the body there is a proboscis with which it pierces the skin and sucks. In females, half of the abdomen is covered with a dark shield. The size of a hungry tick is 2-3 millimeters, pumping blood, it reaches the size of a small grape - up to 1 cm, acquiring a bluish color.

The favorite habitats of ticks are shaded, moist places in the forest zone, most often these are mixed forests. Ticks are also found on the edges of the forest, on clearings, on overgrowing clearings, where there is tall grass, well-developed shrubs, along forest paths where there is brushwood and felling. Ticks also live in moist meadows with high grass.

On plants, the tick is located so that the front pair of limbs can freely stretch forward when approaching a potential host. This is the so-called waiting position. Sucking ticks on a person can occur not only in the forest, but also at home. Ticks are brought into the house on work clothes, with pets, a bouquet of wildflowers, etc. Ticks crawl among passengers in urban vehicles.

Once on the Human body or animal’s hair, the tick searches for a suitable place for suction, which sometimes takes a lot of time (from half an hour or more).

In humans, most often ticks are sucked on the neck, chest, in the armpits, inguinal folds. Then he immerses his mouth parts (the so-called proboscis) in the skin and, cutting through it, gets to the subcutaneous blood vessels, from where it sucks blood. The teeth on the proboscis, directed backward, help him securely fixate and the first portion of saliva, which quickly hardens and adheres the mouth organs to the skin, like cement.

The bloodsucking of a female tick lasts many days (about 6 days), and when fully saturated, it increases in weight by 80-120 times. The bloodsucking of the male usually lasts several hours and sometimes goes unnoticed. Males suck on for a short time, in order to replenish the supply of nutrients and water in the body. Feeding blood, the female lays thousands of eggs, of which, after a few weeks, larvae hatch, their size is no more than poppy seeds and with only three pairs of legs.

Larvae attack small forest animals and birds, sucking, they suck blood 3-4 days, then leave their hosts and go into the forest litter. There they molt, turning into the next phase of development - nymphs, which are larger and already have four pairs of limbs.

Having wintered, the nymphs likewise go on the “hunt”, but choose larger victims: squirrels, chipmunks, hares, and hedgehogs. A fed nymph in a year turns either into a female or into a male. Thus, the tick development cycle lasts at least three years .. During this time, ticks feed only three times.

Infections, the causative agents of which are transmitted to a person by bloodsucking ixodid ticks

1. Tick-borne viral encephalitis
2. Tick-borne tick-borne borreliosis
3. Tick-borne rickettsioses
4. Monocytic human ehrlichiosis
5. Human granulocytic anaplasmosis
6. Crimean hemorrhagic fever