Springtime temperatures mean the emergence of tiny blacklegged ticks that carry Lyme and a host of other diseases.
While the adult ticks are compared to the size of a sesame seed and the nymphs that emerge in May to the even smaller poppy seed, don’t let their minuscule proportions fool you.
Blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, exhibit resilience traits that verge on superpowers when it comes to hunting down blood meals.
Northeastern University professor Constantin Takacs, who studies ticks in his lab, says that while they may be hard to kill there are steps people can take to prevent ticks from biting them — and their pets — and transmitting disease.
But first, he describes what makes blacklegged deer ticks such formidable predators.
Consider the blacklegged deer ticks that are out and about now. While they are not active until it is 37 or 40 degrees, they can survive temperatures as low as -14 degrees, Takacs says.
The Global Lyme Alliance says the ticks’ survival comes courtesy of proteins that prevent ice from forming in their bodies, creating a kind of natural antifreeze. “They’re surviving very cold Canadian winters, which is crazy,” says Takacs, an assistant professor of biology.
If the cold doesn’t kill them, perhaps keeping ticks in a lab for a year without a blood meal might do the trick?
No, says Takacs. Researchers showed that as long as the ticks had air and humidity, they emerged from the lab a year later hungrier than ever, with the ability to transmit the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, still intact.
Perhaps more astonishing, Takacs says a research project he worked on with other scientists demonstrated that in blacklegged ticks starved in a jar for 14 months, the “number of bacteria slightly increased.”
It seems that blacklegged ticks and the spiral-shaped bacteria that cause Lyme have a mutually beneficial partnership. “They have really evolved to get to know each other molecularly,” Takacs says. “They’re very good at what they do.”
Ticks have also developed specialized proteins that work at the bite site to suppress both their victims’ immune system and nerve sensitivity, Takacs says.
“So there’s no pain and there’s no swelling or itchiness,” he says. That makes it easier for ticks to feed on their victims for the 24-plus hours believed necessary to transmit Lyme disease.
Stealthy and aggressive as blacklegged ticks are, steps can and should be taken to avoid their bite, Takacs says.
Lyme, the most common disease transmitted by blacklegged ticks, causes fever, fatigue, joint pain and, in some cases, a rash. Untreated, the Lyme spirochete can get into the skin, heart tissue, joints and outermost layer of protective tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Protection starts by doing tick checks after spending time outdoors, Takacs says.
Considering the tiny size of ticks, especially ticks in the nymphal stage from May to August, people should also consider taking hot showers or throwing their clothes in the dryer for 20 minutes.
“Ticks hate being really hot,” Takacs says. Immediately showering can wash them off the body before they have had a chance to attach, and the dryer will kill them outright.
Applying the insect repellent permethrin to clothes, especially shoes and socks, can help prevent the transmission of Lyme as well as babesiosis and anaplasmosis, according to the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension in Massachusetts.
Consider getting a Lyme vaccine for your dog and using topical repellents or collars for dogs and cats — but check with your veterinarian because not all pet products are safe for cats, according to the extension service.
It also says some people might want to treat the edge of their lawn where grass grows in partial shade and transition to the brush and leaf litter where ticks love to hang out.