COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tuck it in. That’s what Glen Needham, Ohio State University associate professor of entomology, is encouraging people to do – tuck pants into socks or boots and tuck shirts into pants. Ohio has an emerging problem in deer ticks.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a good time to revisit methods to keep people and pets protected from the ticks in the coming months.

“This tick carries at least four kinds of diseases that affect both people and pets,” said Needham, who has been studying ticks for 40 years. “The main one is Lyme disease, but they also transmit anaplasmosis, babesiosis and ehrlichiosis. These affect mostly people and dogs.”

Needham discovered the first established Ohio population of black-legged, or deer, ticks in Coshocton County in 2010. Since that time, he and other collaborators have found the ticks in 26 of Ohio’s 88 counties. They are woodland ticks and tend to be in counties south and east of Interstate 71, where there are deciduous forests.

The critters were called deer ticks because people found huge numbers of them on deer, so those animals were blamed for the increase in tick populations, Needham said. The deer are not affected by the ticks or the diseases, yet they are part of the big picture of how ticks get into a region.

The engorged female ticks drop off the deer and lay their eggs on the ground. One tick can lay 2,000 eggs, which starts a population in an area. The eggs, beginning a two-year life cycle, hatch into larvae in late summer.

The following spring, the larvae molt into nymphs. Those larvae and nymphs feed on white-footed mice, which Needham called “the really bad actor” in the deer tick story.

“The white-footed mice get Lyme disease and they have lots of these spirochetes (corkscrew-shaped bacteria) in them, and when the ticks feed, they get infected,” he said. “So the white-footed mice are the reservoir for Lyme disease in this part of the country.

“Most people probably get Lyme disease from the nymphal stage (although adult ticks also spread the disease) that is becoming active right now. It is about the size of a poppyseed. In Ohio we’re used to looking for dog ticks; they’re big, we feel them crawling on us, so we pull them off and that’s one reason why we have so few cases of spotted fever in Ohio. The nymphal stage of this deer tick is so tiny – even if you know what you’re looking for, you could miss it.”

For people, Lyme disease symptoms can show up within three days of the tick bite, Needham said. Usually a bulls-eye rash, from 6-12 inches wide, will develop at the site and it will last for a considerable period of time.

“You would not get it mixed up with a regular bug bite,” Needham said. “In areas where Lyme disease is common, people are used to that. In Ohio, people are not used to seeing the bulls-eye rash and it can be diagnosed as ringworm or other things, and people are sent home with a ringworm salve so it gets missed.”

After the rash stage the Lyme disease spirochete moves out of the skin into different parts of the body. Then it is harder to diagnose and harder to treat. The victim may have arthritis, heart arrhythmia or other symptoms.

“We think there are quite a few people in Ohio who get Lyme disease and miss the initial stages,” Needham said. “Beginning now through the summer is the most dangerous time for getting infected by deer ticks carrying Lyme disease.”

Symptoms in dogs are different. Dogs can become lethargic, not their usual peppy selves, he said. They may even show signs of lameness, favoring a back leg. There are clinical tests a veterinarian can do to determine if a dog has Lyme disease, and more veterinarians are beginning to include those in a dog’s regular checkup. Lyme disease vaccines are also available for dogs.

“For pets, we actually have better tools because you can use anti-tick products,” Needham said. “Your veterinarian should be asked about the best tick control products rather than relying on over-the-counter products. The product directions have to be followed carefully.”

As precautions against ticks, Needham advises:

•Apply tick repellants (DEET/Permethrin) on clothing

•Tuck pants in socks, shirt in pants

•Do thorough tick-checks daily

•Remove and save attached crawling ticks that can help connect symptoms with tick-borne disease

•Use veterinarian-approved anti-tick products; test and vaccinate pets for Lyme disease

The Tick Course is an online training module developed by Needham and Denise Ellsworth of the OSU Department of Entomology. This self-paced module was developed to teach hunters, gardeners, veterinary professionals and extension staff about tick biology, tick identifications and tick-borne diseases, including Lyme.

This not-for-credit course consists of videos, self-paced lessons, quizzes and Internet resources. The course takes approximately three hours to complete. The registration fee is $10.

The course is available anytime through eXtension, the National Extension System website. To get started, click on the eXtension website link and create an account. Find The Tick Course in the “Yard and Garden” category. Questions? Contact Ellsworth at ellsworth.2@osu.edu

And for more information about Lyme disease, visit www.cdc.gov/features/lymedisease