Bartenderbonnie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 49177
posted
The University of Rhode Island's TickEncounter Resourse Center has a TickSpotters program that can help identify ticks.
Take a picture of your tick. Summit photo. They will reply with a tick identification confirmation. This also helps to track tick activity and build warning tools.
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- In addition to Bonnie's link,
It's nice to be able to identify if the critter is / was, in fact, a tick and even what kind.
Still, be careful not to believe some advice - even (especially) from government agencies - that says only this or that kind of tick carries lyme (or any other specific infection).
Any tick can carry lyme. And that can be anywhere in the country (even world). Doctors in many states may say "oh, we don't:
have ticks here;
have that KIND of tick here;
have lyme here; etc.
Or that the lone star tick does not carry lyme. That is false. It certain can.
Or that STARI is not lyme. It often is misinterpreted and seen as not potentially dangerous strain of borrelia, or even wrongly assumed not to be Bb when it fact it may well be.
Certain kinds of ticks, certain strains of borrelia, babesia, etc. might be more common in certain areas but there is no clear cut map. Ticks can travel on birds, mice, trains, boats, etc.
And some of the states that say they "don't have ticks (or THAT kind of tick)" are just in the dark and have not really looked very hard or talked to the right people.
Anyone who has a tick bite needs to be aware that all tick-borne infections should be considered in assessment.
Now, not all ticks carry infections.
It depends on if the tick in question has had a blood meal from an animal who carries infection(s). Ticks can also acquire infection(s) before they even come to life, though.
Also to know: not all strains of borrelia develop into serious illness. Pamela Weintraub, a very LL medical journalist, has written about that:
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The
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