h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No! (I'll amplify this later)

A12814490 - Ticks - for ease of loading the entry

Great entry Skankyrich, nothing to add at this time.

The term 'tick fever' generally refers to Colorado Tick Fever (CTF), contracted from ticks by campers and forest workers in the western USA. The virus is maintained in the wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni.
The virus is of the Orbivirus genus whose members are responsible for e.g. bluetongue of sheep,and African horse-sickness. Few are known to infect Man, although CTF is one, Kemerovo viruses of Siberia are others. These cause a Dengue-like fever.

See:http://www.health.utah.gov/epi/fact_sheets/ctf.html

Great entry, Rich!

Very easy to read and just enough Good info too

Just one or two potential addenda/dums if you so choose... Firstly, African ticks are suitably soft and they squirt blood as you 'pull and twist' in one motion. As far as I know clockwise or anti-clockwise is not important but it is important to twist

*ahem*

Yes, and the other thing I wanted to say was that other than threatening the tick (and your tender flesh) with 1st degree burns, you could wet a fagend and squeeze ciggie juice on the tick. This will cause said tick to disengage double bleddyquick and go do whatever it is that sick-to-the-stomach ticks do...



W

Thanks for the comments, I'll take a proper look later in the week and post any changes

my two cents about tick removal: nurses don't always know what they're doing, and according to what I learned in first aid, the tweezer method is better than burning matches and vaseline. (Not that I take that to mean much: most of first aid consists of "make the victim comfortable and wait for the ambulence" so chances are good they just don't want people burning themselves or something stupid like that. But they also said that if the jaws get left behind when you yank out the tick it doesn't matter; it can't give you any diseases and will fall out in a few hours.)

If the jaws get left behind you won't get any diseases, but it can get infected and go nasty.

The infection would need to be treated though, Just Leo

Well hopefully the EMTs will be there by then Actually, I did that to a tick myself - beheaded him and the jaws took all day to follow, but it wasn't infected. Of course, an alcohol swab can go a long way to preventing infection.

In my opinion, you should change the title to indicate that the entry is about the bugs, not the symptom of Tourette's...

Alex

Oh, and never pee in thick bracken...

The Tourette's symptom is a tic, not a tick...


W

Ah, touche!

and *still* never pee in thick bracken





W

Leo, I personally use the tweezer method every time (well, actually I have to remove them so often I'm proficient with my fingernails, even when the swine is embedded deep in a belly-button ) - I just feel it's more appropriate that h2g2 suggests seeking professional medical help than my preferred method

I think I've addressed all the rest. Infection caused by leaving the jawparts in the flesh is mentioned twice already - clearly it doesn't happen in every case, but the risk of an infection is far more likely when part of a foreign body is stuck in the skin.

The whole thing makes me itch.
Well done!

We've always used fingernail polish to suffocate them (clear, so you can see when they stop squirming). It takes longer, but if they're already dead the chances of leaving the head behind are reduced, or that's what I've always been told. That's the way the nurse's station did it at camp when I was there, too.

Not that any of this needs to be included. Looks fine just as it is

I have included it, and re-written a small part of it to read:

'Smothering. Old wives will recommend smearing the tick with alcohol, vinegar, Vaseline, butter, nail polish or one of many other substances. All these either make life uncomfortable for the tick or make breathing difficult; the tick will withdraw or die. Suffocation methods can be slow, however, as ticks only take 3-15 breaths per hour!'

Covers all bases?

Yep - I'd say so

Looks great!