Lone star tick might be latest invader in Michigan

Shari Stoneborough's kids get ticked all the time.

Not "ticked off." She could probably handle that, but "ticked" as in bringing blood-sucking arachnids into the house.

"My kids come in with eight to 10 a day," said the Clyde Township woman. "My cats bring them in.

"My youngest had one that was embedded at his hairline."

By many accounts, ticks are having a banner year — and they suck.

"Ticks have been building," said Howard Russell, an entomologist with Michigan State University Extension.

"There was a time when you didn’t have to worry about ticks in the Lower Peninsula," he said. "Now I get complaints almost daily from people who say, 'We’ve never had ticks here and now I can’t go for a walk without getting a tick on me.'

"For some reason they’re increasing, and I expect them to continue to increase."

Lone star tick

A tick more common to the southeastern states than to northern forests - the lone star tick - appears to be increasing its numbers in Michigan, Russell said. What makes it a concern is it appears to cause a meat allergy in some of the people it targets as hosts.The tick is identified by a white spot on its back.

"It’s kind of rare here in Michigan," Russell said. "It’s the lone star tick. I see it occasionally. It’s more southeast."

According to information from the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, the lone star tick has been identified as causing a meat allergy that can be life-threatening if the affected person experiences anaphylaxis, a reaction that restricts breathing.

"This tick is invading northwards, just like northern populations of the black-legged tick are spreading southwards," said Jean Tsao, an associate professor in the Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife and Large Animal Clinical Sciences at Michigan State University, in an email. Her areas of expertise include disease ecology; evolution; management; and emerging infectious disease/invasive species ecology and management.

She said the tick has been found in Michigan on people who had not traveled out of the state, "but it remains a question whether it is really established here. It is probable that it will become established here in the future, as it is established in other northern states in the Northeast.

"Exposure to the lone star tick has been associated with a meat allergy.  Researchers are still trying to understand how the allergy occurs, as not everyone who is bitten by a lone star tick (which constitutes a lot of people) exhibits this allergy," she said.

Tsao said she hadn't heard of an uptick in the number of ticks this year, but  "because the black-legged tick (deer tick) is spreading across Michigan, as long as weather conditions are conducive for tick survival, there will be an increased number of ticks. This would be in addition to the tick species we already have in Michigan, which, from the perspective of human-tick or companion dog-tick contacts, mainly comprise the American dog tick."

Dog ticks

The dog tick is the species people are most likely to find on themselves or their animals. It comprises about 76 percent of all ticks sent to state agencies for identification, according to information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

"(Ticks) quest on vegetation and an animal walks by and the tick grabs on," Russell said. "Dogs are in brushy areas because that’s what dogs do.

"You normally don’t see (ticks) out in an area where there’s full sun."

He said it's a good idea to do a tick check of yourself and

Stoneborough said her kids, who seem to pick up ticks every time they go into the wooded areas near their home, know the drill.

"Nine times out of 10, they'll strip to their underwear at the door," she said.

"There's a good 6 to 7 acres they play in that's wooded."

Tsao said different ticks are found in various habitats.

"Depending on the species, ticks can lurk in different areas," she said. "Black-legged ticks (the ones that can transmit Lyme disease) are usually found in more forested habitats — both deciduous and coniferous, although more so in deciduous because the thinking is leaf litter helps them survive from desiccation.

"The American dog tick, the overall most often frequently contacted tick in Michigan, can also be contacted in woods, but it's also very common in areas with tall grass (i.e., fields). They are also prone to drying out, but are a bit more tolerant compared with black-legged ticks.

"The ticks climb on top of the leaf litter, grass stems, or on low branches of bushes, depending on the life stage and species, and wait for hosts to pass by.  When a host does come nearby and brushes the vegetation, the tick can attach. Ticks don't jump nor fly to get on hosts (i.e., wildlife, dogs, cats horses, livestock, humans). After not being successful at attaching to a host, a tick may start to dry out, and therefore, it climbs back down into the leaf litter or ground vegetation and can rehydrate itself. Once rehydrated, it can climb back up and wait for a host to come by."

Staying tick-free

Both Russell and Tsao said repellents containing DEET do work on ticks, but permethrin, a pesticide applied to clothing, is more effective. People also can wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts and tuck pant legs into boots or socks to keep ticks at bay.

Some domestic poultry — chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl — will pick a yard clean of ticks.

"There’s lots of birds that feed on ticks if they can get them," Russell said. "Chickens love them."

There are several repellents for dogs and cats — check with a veterinarian for his or her recommendations.

Finally, removing an embedded tick within the first 24 hours lessens the chance of illnesses such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever being transmitted.

"The best way to remove a tick that is attached is to use a pair of tweezers," Tsao said. "Place the tweezers at the closest point of attachment of the tick to the skin and then just pull straight out (some people suggest twisting a little helps a lot)."

Creepy bugs want to be inside your house

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-663 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477.

More information

• The state has plenty of information about ticks at its Michigan Emerging Disease Issues website, www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases
• People can download a tick ID card at http://1.usa.gov/1TsV7J0
• A "Ticks and Your Health" brochure can be downloaded at http://1.usa.gov/22kNudg
• A video showing how to remove a tick is at www.tickencounter.org/prevention/tick_removal
• Information about Lyme disease, including where to send a tick for identification, is at http://1.usa.gov/1ORZiRS