There are two families of ticks in the USA.
One are soft bodied, one host ticks and the other family which bite humans as well as animals is a three-host tick with a hard body of the Ixodes genus.
Ticks are related to spiders and mites.
Adults have 8 legs, and each stage has one goal, drink blood and create other ticks.
If I am bitten by a tick, will I get Lyme Disease? Lyme Disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.
It is carried from host to host by deer ticks.
The disease must be acquired by the larvae tick, usually from a host like the deer mouse.
Nymphs are the main vector to people since they can remain undetected for the 48 hours necessary to transmit the disease to man.
The exact amount of time for transmission to take place is unknown but appears to be more than 36 hours and probably closer to 48 hours.
If you are bitten in an area of the country like New England or the Pacific Northwest, where more than 20% of nymphs carry Lyme disease, chances are higher you might contract it.
The CDC has recommended that people bitten in those areas receive 200mg of Doxycycline within 72 hours of the bite.
What other diseases are spread by ticks? The Ixodes family of hard bodied, 3 host ticks can transmit a total of 10 diseases.
They are Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, tick-borne Relapsing Fever, Tularemia, Colorado Tick Fever, STARI, and Tick Paralysis.
Where are you at greatest risk for a disease spread by ticks? Lyme Disease risk is highest in coastal New England, Wisconsin and Minnesota and the Pacific coastal states.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is a greater risk along a belt from North Carolina through Tennessee and into Missouri and Arkansas.
NC reported >550 cases in 2004 and always leads the nation in case reports.
Ehrlichiosis and STARI are common but not as common as other tick diseases.
They occur commonly in the South East across to Texas.
The Lone Star tick is responsible for these latter two diseases.