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peakbagger said:
Okay Doug you got me confused. My understanding was the Deer Tick (black legged tick) was the primary vector for Lyme. I always thought there was different variety locally called the Wood Tick (AKA the American Dog Tick that was more prevalent in southern and western maine years ago), the Deer Tick was a relative newcomer to the SW Maine and southern NH. The wood ticks I used to pick up surveying tended to be larger. The few deer ticks I encountered in PA were far smaller and in the past I have used the magnifying lens on a swiss army knife to actually identify a nymph burrowed in my skin.
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Sorry, my error. Blacklegged tick is correct. I have edited my original post.

Doug
 
The ticks have been bad for a few years now. On mountain trails, my dog has never got one. I treat mine year round with frontline. I stopped bringing him in the woods in Southern NH a couple of years ago. Wood roads are ok, but directly into any brush in Southern NH, no thanks, same for me. My last dog got Lyme, she went limp twice, until antibiotics did the trick. We walk on the roads during the week, not worth the chance now. He is vaccinated as well. Even in the winter, he got one or two from bushes in peoples front yards, it's crazy now. I never bushwacked up north in my life, don't plan on starting now.
 
sierra said:
The ticks have been bad for a few years now. On mountain trails, my dog has never got one. I treat mine year round with frontline. I stopped bringing him in the woods in Southern NH a couple of years ago. Wood roads are ok, but directly into any brush in Southern NH, no thanks, same for me. My last dog got Lyme, she went limp twice, until antibiotics did the trick. We walk on the roads during the week, not worth the chance now. He is vaccinated as well. Even in the winter, he got one or two from bushes in peoples front yards, it's crazy now. I never bushwacked up north in my life, don't plan on starting now.
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I was diligent brushing out my Aussie. Their coats run deep almost as if they have two coats. Those ticks can get deep in there.
 
sierra said:
The ticks have been bad for a few years now. On mountain trails, my dog has never got one. I treat mine year round with frontline. I stopped bringing him in the woods in Southern NH a couple of years ago. Wood roads are ok, but directly into any brush in Southern NH, no thanks, same for me. My last dog got Lyme, she went limp twice, until antibiotics did the trick. We walk on the roads during the week, not worth the chance now. He is vaccinated as well. Even in the winter, he got one or two from bushes in peoples front yards, it's crazy now. I never bushwacked up north in my life, don't plan on starting now.
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Define north. I have never gotten a Tick (wood or deer) north of RT2 and west of the Androscoggin River Valley. I have gotten zero ticks on white mountain bushwhacks. Where I have gotten them are down in the river valleys and at trailheads in Easton and Sandwich area. Ticks in general are far more prevalent in human impacted areas. I haven't done much bushwhacking south in the Wonalancet area but expect that TIcks may also be an issue as there is a lot of fringe habitat. Stick to the core of the whites or head to the real northern NH and expect you are good.
 
peakbagger said:
Define north. I have never gotten a Tick (wood or deer) north of RT2 and west of the Androscoggin River Valley. I have gotten zero ticks on white mountain bushwhacks. Where I have gotten them are down in the river valleys and at trailheads in Easton and Sandwich area. Ticks in general are far more prevalent in human impacted areas. I haven't done much bushwhacking south in the Wonalancet area but expect that TIcks may also be an issue as there is a lot of fringe habitat. Stick to the core of the whites or head to the real northern NH and expect you are good.
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North= Where the 4k's start. I agree that the southern side of the Sandwich area would give me concern if I was bushwhacking, which I don't. Once you get into the conifer forest of like the Kanc area, I would not be to concerned. Definitely, not worried on the 4k trails themselves. I hike in the Belknaps some, I have high concern for that area.
 
Dead leaves seem to be the major tick environment where I am in CT. I've picked up ticks in my yard in DEC after just a few minutes of walking through the leaves in the woods behind my house. Really wasn't any grass where I bushwhacked this past week. Plenty of dried up leaves though.

In all my years of camping and hiking in NH I can count maybe 2-3 times where I found a tick crawling on me and I don't think it was ever on a hiking trail.
 
I've been hearing that the Powassan virus could become more prominent this year too. Hadn't heard of it before. Anyone know anyone who has experienced it?
 
Thankfully (despite the media hype) Powassan is incredibly rare. Fewer than 100 cases in the last decade reported in the entire US. A good thing as 50% of patients have permanent issues after infection and 10%-15% die of the disease. Unlike Lyme, transmission can occur quickly (15 minutes). While PV can rarely infect wildlife, there are no reported cases in dogs.

I can think of all kinds of reasons to take tick precautions. While preventing PV is pretty low on my list, it does bear watching. PV comes in two different forms (lineages). Historically lineage I was seen. This is carried by tick species that uncommonly infect humans. Recent data from NY indicates lineage II is more common there and can be transmitted by the black legged (deer) tick.
 
Wish my area was like that. Earlier this week I was checking my tire pressure and knelt down for roughly 8 seconds to check the tire gauge (in some dry leaves on edge of driveway off to side). Got up and went around to driver's side and did a quick check and found three ticks on me. Northeast CT is amazingly bad this year. Worst I have ever seen in the 14 or so years I've lived out there.
 
I have lived in SW NH for almost 40 yrs and tonight was the 1st time that I've had a dear tick embedded on me. 3 other ticks so far this year were dog ticks, and were catch as they were still crawling. I'm sure that this one latched on in the last 24-30 hours, so I should be ok according to the experts. But my skin is crawling just thinking of it.
 
I had a deer tick latched on the other day and stopped by the doctor to see if I needed Doxy. She pulled the current treatment recommendation.

Need for treatment — The clinician will review the description of the tick, along with any physical symptoms, to decide upon a course of action. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recommends preventive treatment with antibiotics only in people who meet ALL of the following criteria:

●Attached tick identified as an adult or nymphal I. scapularis (deer) tick


●Tick is estimated to have been attached for ≥36 hours (based upon how engorged the tick appears or the amount of time since outdoor exposure)


●The antibiotic can be given within 72 hours of tick removal


●The local rate of tick infection with B. burgdorferi is ≥20 percent (known to occur in parts of New England, parts of the mid-Atlantic states, and parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin)


●The person can take doxycycline (eg, the person is not pregnant or breastfeeding or a child <8 years of age)


If the person meets ALL of the above criteria, the recommended dose of doxycycline is a single dose of 200 mg for adults and 4 mg/kg, up to a maximum dose of 200 mg, in children ≥ 8 years.

If the person cannot take doxycycline, the IDSA does not recommend preventive treatment with an alternate antibiotic for several reasons: there are no data to support a short course of another antibiotic, a longer course of antibiotics may have side effects, antibiotic treatment is highly effective if Lyme disease were to develop, and the risk of developing a serious complication of Lyme disease after a recognized bite is extremely low.

Some doctors in high Lyme areas tend to hand out scripts for Doxy to anyone who finds a tick attached.
 
Thanks for the detailed info peakbagger, I met all of the criteria, as I had to increase my estimated attachment time to 36+ hours, so I got and took the 200 mg of Doxy ealier today. The spot of the bite is about a quarter sized raised red angry lump.
 
Not my info, just copied off a government website. Be aware Doxy does cause photo sensitivity so stay out of the sun (assuming there is any)
 
Look into getting the tick tested first....

In my town, if you take a tick to the local area health district office, they will have a look and if the circumstances are appropriate (the tick is the type that carries Lyme, the tick is engorged with blood, etc) they will send it off to test it for Lyme for a $10 fee. Maybe other locales have a similar service, look into it. If it comes back negative, then you'd be able to avoid the expense of a doctor's visit and a prescription, and avoid the nasty antibiotics when they are not necessary...
 
TomK said:
In my town, if you take a tick to the local area health district office, they will have a look and if the circumstances are appropriate (the tick is the type that carries Lyme, the tick is engorged with blood, etc) they will send it off to test it for Lyme for a $10 fee. Maybe other locales have a similar service, look into it. If it comes back negative, then you'd be able to avoid the expense of a doctor's visit and a prescription, and avoid the nasty antibiotics when they are not necessary...
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You can also get a tick tested on your own: https://www.tickreport.com/ The test covers more pathogens than Lyme. (There are other testing services: https://www.google.com/#q=tick+testing)

Note: I have never used this service myself. The link is from http://www.capecodextension.org/ticksinsects/

Comment: Almost all discussion about tick-borne diseases in the NE focuses only on Lyme. There are currently ~7 tick-borne diseases found in the region and only Lyme has the 24 hour delay before infection. (The Lyme organism is normally dormant and requires ~24 hrs of body heat to activate.)

Doug
 
Most of what I have seen this year is pointing to another terrible tick season. I've never been bothered before and have never used any repellent, but before my luck runs out I figure I best start treating my clothes with Permethrine Spray. Looking at the variety of brands I see concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 36%. The 36% indicated it was for subterranean termites so I'll exclude that but there is still appears to be a significant range. What percentage and brands are most folks using that I can assume will be effective? Thanks
 
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