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How Does a Lyme Disease Tick Look Like?

No one wants to get lyme disease. Although the disease is often not fatal, it can lead to a lot of pain and discomfort. One way to prevent getting this disease is to recognize a lyme disease tick when you see one and remove it before it can transfer the bacteria it carries.

Deer Tick Appearance

The tick that causes lyme disease is more commonly known as deer tick or the blacklegged tick. For obvious reasons, it has these popular names because of where it is commonly found and because of the color of its legs. Its scientific name is Ixodes scapularis which is related to other ticks in the same Ixodes genus. In the U.S. deer ticks are most often found in places located in the midwest and northeast.

Deer ticks have large exterior bodies. They are often smaller than plain dog ticks but they have long legs. They may be predominantly black but the lower portions of their bodies are brown when viewed from the top. These ticks also have grayish sacks that they use to store blood after feeding.

Getting an Infection

Deer ticks are known for being vectors of disease. Although the tick can carry bacteria that cause other diseases such as ehrlichiosis, the most common disease it is responsible for is lyme disease. A tick would have to carry the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi to make a person sick of lyme disease. It transmits the bacteria through its bite.

Aside from deer, the ticks can also latch on to rodents and birds. They can then be transferred to bushes and shrubs as these carrier animals move around. People and dogs exposed to carriers and bushy areas can then catch the ticks.

A deer tick feeds by sucking out blood. Unlike other bloodsucking insects, this one can stay for days on the skin of an animal just to feed. As it feeds, its sack expands, making the tick look bloated and much unlike its usual appearance. A feeding tick will fall off on its own after a feeding session is concluded.

Eliminating Ticks

You may live in areas with lots of trees, shrubs and deer. If this is so, you may not always be able to make your home and your body tick free. There is always a chance that a tick could land on you or on your clothes during one of your walks. Once you notice that a deer tick has latched onto your skin, get a pair of tweezers. Grasp the tick’s body firmly with your tweezers and lift up.

Aside from yourself, your pet dog could also have deer ticks in its coat. It is therefore important to regularly wash your dog with anti-tick grooming solutions. You should also manually check for ticks now and then.

Now that you know what a lyme disease tick looks like, you are more prepared to prevent an infection. Since the disease may not always lead to symptoms, seeing a tick on your skin may give you an early clue that you may have been bitten and that you may need medical attention.

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