Tick tock - boom!

[Spix]

We've had a couple of threads and a few posts on here recently commenting on the tick burden / the high incidence of ticks this year.

Here is a new, long and detailed article on the situation elsewhere in the northern hemisphere, totally relevant to us here, and covers the 2020 tick burden, vaccine demand, vaccination, and the spectre of tick hybridisation.

" ... The hybrid tick seems to be capable of transmitting to humans all the parasites of both the more common types, including four types of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, encephalitis, Kemerovo tick-borne viral fever, and Siberian tick-borne typhus (Rickettsia) ... In addition, experts believe the hybrid tick might be more adaptable to various environments and capable of vastly expanding its geographical range ..."

Tick tock - boom! Mind how you go!

 

[Spix]

I'm going to wrap into this thread reports on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever ( CCHF ) in Europe and its neighbours. If ever there was a tick nasty that could potentially piggyback here on a hybrid tick this would be it.

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is considered to be one of the major emerging disease threats spreading to and within Europe following the expanding distribution of its main vector, ticks of the genus Hyalomma.

CCHF is a widespread disease that is caused by a tickborne virus that results in severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks. Animals are carriers, and tick
bites or contact with the blood or body fluids from an infected animal or person can spread the virus. Common symptoms of the disease are fever,
headache, general body pain and fatigue. Personal protection measures are vital for disease control. Fatalities are not uncommon.

Recently in Turkey ( @Howzat ) : Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), a zoonotic virus, is making a comeback claiming 15 lives so far in Turkey

Third case in Spain since 2016, this time in Castille and Leon : Cas de fièvre hémorragique de Crimée-Congo en Espagne

Stalkers, hunters, forestry workers, hikers and people working with animals are more likely to be exposed to ticks and, therefore, to be infected.

 

[25 Sharps]

I'm going to wrap into this thread reports on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever ( CCHF ) in Europe and its neighbours. If ever there was a tick nasty that could potentially piggyback here on a hybrid tick this would be it.

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is considered to be one of the major emerging disease threats spreading to and within Europe following the expanding distribution of its main vector, ticks of the genus Hyalomma.

CCHF is a widespread disease that is caused by a tickborne virus that results in severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks. Animals are carriers, and tick
bites or contact with the blood or body fluids from an infected animal or person can spread the virus. Common symptoms of the disease are fever,
headache, general body pain and fatigue. Personal protection measures are vital for disease control. Fatalities are not uncommon.

Recently in Turkey ( @Howzat ) : Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), a zoonotic virus, is making a comeback claiming 15 lives so far in Turkey

Third case in Spain since 2016, this time in Castille and Leon : Cas de fièvre hémorragique de Crimée-Congo en Espagne

Stalkers, hunters, forestry workers, hikers and people working with animals are more likely to be exposed to ticks and, therefore, to be infected.

Well that sounds lovely and highly infectious!

 

[TomDeer]

Thanks for posting this Spix. It's worth knowing about.

 

[Freeforester]

Just in time for the hill hare ban too, well done, la Johnstone, please set up signs advising the access takers where they can "hug a hare"!

 

[JMikeyH]

Time to invest in a set of Rovince threads... First I've heard of tick-borne diseases being trasmitted through the blood of an animal carrier. Is this ignorance on my behalf or is this generally uncommon??

 

[Jeddie]

Does anybody know of a tick repellent?

 

[JMikeyH]

Does anybody know of a tick repellent?

Anything with Permethrin in it seems to be the go-to, it's an insecticide so it's pretty indiscriminate and as far as I can tell it's mostly used on fabrics, rather than on your skin. Something called DEET is a product that can be applied to the skin

 

[Spix]

@JMikeyH, post #6 . Yes, it's a learning curve and we all are behind it.

ECDC have a lot of information on tick-borne diseases, although their website is not particularly user friendly.

These links may help :

Lyme disease : Factsheet about Borreliosis

Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever : Factsheet about Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever

 

[Spix]

There was a well illustrated if somewhat breathless tabloid article on the hybrid tick story a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Spix]

In 2015 the journal 'Infection, Genetics and Evolution' published a paper by Sergey Kovalev et al., 'Natural hybridization of the ticks Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes pavlovskyi in their sympatric populations in Western Siberia' following on from Kovalev's Doctoral Thesis : Origin, Distribution and Evolution of the Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus, Urals Federal University, 2002 [in Russian], which is too big a file to attach here, but to quote:

“It has been shown that closely related species of ixodid ticks in their sympatric zones form hybrid populations, which play an important role in the evolution of TBEV, acting as a transition link when the virus changes an arthropod host.”

“In the studied tick populations of both species, the ratio of males and females was approximately the same ratio … However, in the hybrids, 95% were females.”

Yes, we are behind the curve, about 18 years!

I'm grateful my good friend D.A. of Udmurt State University, Izhevsk, for the copy of Kovalev's thesis, thanks!

 

[Freeforester]

Time to invest in a set of Rovince threads... First I've heard of tick-borne diseases being trasmitted through the blood of an animal carrier. Is this ignorance on my behalf or is this generally uncommon??

Er, yes and no It would be what's in the blood, not the blood per se. Lymes disease and a fair number of other illnesses can also affect eg your dog, and any potential vector can thereafter transmit illness via a tick doing its usual life cycle gorge-grow-gorge again thing.

 

[Spix]

Bug generator, one minute 5 seconds in :



View from NASA

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

My gf had a tick (well it may have been a nymph it was so small. I removed it and put it on my recently tick treated clothing and after 5 mins it still seemed happy.

I then gave it a full spray of tick treatment containing permethrin and 2 mins later it died.

So whilst I treat my clothes with the stuff I'm not convinced how effective it really is.

Having said that I have found 3 ticks on my dog in the past week and zero on me so perhaps it does work- just slowly ?

 

[Thunderstick]

Thanks for sharing that Spix.

Does anybody know of a tick repellent?

Purchased some of this:
Martins Permethrin 10% Livestock Dog Kennel Ticks Fleas 8oz Permethrin 10% 72693450004 | eBay
Few years back as I always seemed to be a tick magnet when out and about more so When north of the border.
Many times found double figures neck deep in my legs and other places... Hate the B*#*#*DS!
Diluted some down keeping it stronger than anything that can be purchased off the shelf (that I can find) and into little pump spray bottles... Larap it all over the boots/gaiters, trouser legs, smock and sleeves, even my beanie (it also keeps the midges at bay) just before going out in a morning and hardly had a tick on me since! 1 Bottle makes loads and seems to last ages, best kept undiluted until required as I had a bottle in the truck over winter Pre-diluted and whether it due to contamination or cold etc went Very opaque/milky so just ditched that for peace of mind.
Obviously do your research regarding permethrin and the hazards etc but I find it works very well for Me.

 

[Buchan]

Does anybody know of a tick repellent?

No such thing I'm afraid.

 

[Buchan]

Er, yes and no It would be what's in the blood, not the blood per se. Lymes disease and a fair number of other illnesses can also affect eg your dog, and any potential vector can thereafter transmit illness via a tick doing its usual life cycle gorge-grow-gorge again thing.

Lyme in dogs is in the hen's teeth category and it is only in a few animals that a bacteraemia occurs to allow onward transmission. This is mostly mice and other rodents.

 

[Spix]

It has to be said that permethrin resistance in ticks is not unknown. It is a concern for ranchers and graziers (elsewhere in the world) and worth being aware of. Perhaps someone would like to run with that? Here or as a separate thread.

 

[Spix]

Bulgaria is another country that has seen a rise in tick numbers this year with a number of people hospitalised with tick bite fever of one kind or another including last week a case of Congo-Crimean haemorrhagic fever [CCHF] :

The number of Bitten by Ticks is Growing! Deadly Crimean Fever Is Registered in Bulgaria

Although no clinical or epidemiological details were given in the news report 32 cases of CCHF have been reported in Bulargia in recent years. CCHF is highly pathogenic, there is no specific drug treatment or vaccine and a high risk of person-to-person transmission.

Ten years ago Eurosurveillance published a wake-up call for awareness :

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Europe: current situation calls for preparedness

 

[geoffw]

Thanks for sharing that Spix.




Purchased some of this:
Martins Permethrin 10% Livestock Dog Kennel Ticks Fleas 8oz Permethrin 10% 72693450004 | eBay
Few years back as I always seemed to be a tick magnet when out and about more so When north of the border.
Many times found double figures neck deep in my legs and other places... Hate the B*#*#*DS!
Diluted some down keeping it stronger than anything that can be purchased off the shelf (that I can find) and into little pump spray bottles... Larap it all over the boots/gaiters, trouser legs, smock and sleeves, even my beanie (it also keeps the midges at bay) just before going out in a morning and hardly had a tick on me since! 1 Bottle makes loads and seems to last ages, best kept undiluted until required as I had a bottle in the truck over winter Pre-diluted and whether it due to contamination or cold etc went Very opaque/milky so just ditched that for peace of mind.
Obviously do your research regarding permethrin and the hazards etc but I find it works very well for Me.

interesting, thank you- curious, what did you dilute it with please?