Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
tick pic
Ticks collected from humans can be sent to the state DOH to be identified for disease monitoring.
When most people pick a tick off their body, the initial reaction is to make it suffer a quick and untimely death. But Whitman County health officials would rather those ticks be bottled and dropped off to assist in the state’s tick surveillance program which monitors tick species to determine the risk of tick-borne diseases.
According to the Department of Health, different ticks transmit different diseases. Therefore, by identifying the species of tick, the state can be aware of what potential disease could result in that area from tick bites. The ticks are not tested for disease, just identified by species.
The Whitman County Public Health office has small plastic jars residents can use to contain ticks should they find one. The jars are about one-quarter filled with rubbing alcohol to preserve the specimen. Once a tick is collected, the jar is returned to the health department where it is forwarded to the state for identification.
Anyone wanting to participate in the program can contact Troy Henderson, public health director, at the county health department. Henderson stressed that the ticks collected should come off a human body and not from animals.
“It’s important that they’re not on a dog,” he said.
Ticks do not have to be imbedded in a host. A tick still roaming on a body can be collected.
There are seven diseases the state lists that local ticks could be carrying. While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the U.S., it is rare in Washington. Three or less cases per year are reported in the state from ticks living in forested or brushy areas of western Washington.
Up to 12 cases of tick-borne Relapsing Fever are reported each year in the state. Most people become infected while staying in rural, mountainous cabins in eastern Washington as the ticks transmit the disease from rodents.
Washington only reports three or fewer cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever each year, yet some are infected outside the state. Ticks carrying the bacteria that cause it are especially common in eastern Washington.
Tick paralysis can lead to death if the offending tick is not removed within 24 to 48 hours. From 1990 to 2011, there were only 12 cases reported in the state. Ticks associated with tick paralysis live in forested and brushy areas or along edges between open grassy areas and woods.
Each year one to 10 cases of Tularemia are reported in Washington, yet only some are from tick bites and some picked up in other states. The carrier ticks are found throughout the state.
Anaplasmosis is another tick-borne disease the state monitors. While no human cases have been reported in Washington, numerous dogs have been diagnosed with it.
To date, tick-surveillance has not identified any Babesiosis-positive ticks in Washington state, but the disease is on the list.
Henderson said the program has been going on for years and he would like to see more participation from county residents, especially those in the northern part of the county. Some disease-carrying tick species have been identified in the Turnbull area in Spokane County.
Since the program’s beginning in 2010, the state has collected more than 10,700 ticks. In 2016, Whitman County tested positive for non-pathogenic Rickettsia which does not harm humans.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
Reader Comments(0)