The most known species of ticks in the Northwoods are WOOD TICKS and DEER TICKS. WOOD TICKS or sometimes call American dog tick can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but the good news (if you can call it that) is these ticks are considered exceedingly rare in Wisconsin. Here’s something else that is extremely rare in the Wisconsin. The POWASSAN VIRUS. This virus is spread by the BLACKLEGGED (DEER) TICK that also spreads LYME disease.

The reported cases of POWASSAN VIRUS are more common in the northern part of our state because we have a higher number of deer ticks in the Northwoods. In severe cases of the POWASSAS VIRUS 10% of those infected die. That’s how Serious this virus is. 12 cases were reported last year in Wisconsin and of those 12 people three were hospitalized, but one died. I will tell you; I’ve read that there has been NO cases reported in VILAS COUNTY YET.

Contrary to what some believe, ticks DO NOT fly, jump or drop from above onto their victims, but wait for a person or animal to brush against grass or whatever they are attached to and crawl on to their victim. I would think most people know that a ticks life source is blood, and they can be prevalent from April to September, but how many are aware that peak season for ticks is October and even into November. Ticks can survive a hard freeze and are most active after the first frost.

Common symptoms of POWASSAN virus are headache, nausea, stiff neck, muscle weakness, vomiting and a fever. In severe cases the symptoms are confusion, paralysis, difficulty with speech, loss of memory and meningitis.

Early symptoms of LYME disease are a circular (DOES NOT APPEAR IN ALL CASES) rash, stiff neck, muscle or joint pain, fever and headaches. Then heart abnormalities, joint swelling, meningitis (brain swelling) and facial muscles weakness in the later stages.

LYME disease is treatable if DETECTED EARLY with antibiotics, but can have long term effects to joints, heart and nervous system if NOT found or treated early. Unlike Lyme disease, there is NO treatment POWASSAN VIRUeS currently.

One study said ticks can crawl around on you or an animal for up to 4 hours before feeding on blood, so please check yourself and pets after walking in the woods or high grass.

The Mayo Clinic revealed, there is a new strain of Lyme disease that DOES NOT match traditional Lyme disease and it’s only been found in the Midwest. The symptoms of this new strain are similar, but also causes nausea, vomiting and a larger more spread-out rash. If having wood ticks and deer ticks that can spread Lyme disease wasn’t enough, the LONE STAR TICK has been detected in 32 Wisconsin counties (EVEN VILAS COUNTY) since 2006. These ticks have a white spot on their back, are more aggressive than deer ticks and like other ticks, need blood to survive.

The biggest difference between the deer tick and lone star tick is the lone star tick carries ALPHA-GAL-SYDROME that does something to our immune system that can cause us to have an allergic reaction to red meat. If bitten by a lone star tick, the area can still develop a circular rash with similar symptoms, and as crazy as this sounds, you can also get swelling to your lips, face, tongue, throat, abdominal pain, nausea and /or vomiting few hours after eating beef or pork.

For those of us living and or folks vacationing in the Northwoods, the best way to prevent ticks is to keep away from wooded, high grass or any vegetation areas and/or wear light color long pants, tuck your light color shirt in and apply repellent that has at least 20 % of DEET. Then before you go into your house/cottage, check for dark spots on your light color clothes.

There is a product called PERMETHRIN that can be applied to your clothes but (and I can’t stress this enough) NEVER put this on your skin. For the people that do not like to use the Northwoods perfume/cologne (DEET), there is natural alternatives. Herbs like lemongrass, cedarwood and clove can help to repel ticks.

If you do find a tick on yourself or pet, remove it by grasping it as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out with tweezers, DO NOT, TWIST OR TRY TO JERK the tick off. Then clean the area with rubbing alcohol and place the tick on a piece of tape and put it into a plastic bag and throw it in the garbage.