Becky Gillette – Finding ticks never used to be this fun. As anyone who spends much time outdoors in Northwest Arkansas knows, ticks are plentiful. They are also potentially dangerous as tick bites can transmit serious illnesses.
Exactly what disease pathogens are in the area’s tick population isn’t currently known. But the University of Arkansas Department of Entomology has started a study that includes a citizen science component where volunteers collect ticks to be tested in the laboratory for diseases harmful to humans.
Dr. Ashley Dowling, an entomology professor, got particularly interested in the issue of tick diseases after contracting a tickborne disease a few years ago.
“I had an up close and personal experience with it, and was contacted by people with various diseases or problems associated with tick bites,” Dowling said. “I went through the records for the Arkansas Department of Health and found the incidence of some tick diseases is up 100 to 300 percent. It may be partly because doctors are better at recording these illnesses, but everything shows this is a hotspot for tick diseases and there is no recent research found in the area. We decided if no one else is doing it, then we should be doing it.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the Ozarks’ region ranks number one or two in terms of three different tick diseases: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and tularemia.
“That is a list you don’t want to be on the top of,” Dowling said.
According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, “Tickborne diseases are becoming a serious problem in this country as people increasingly build homes in formerly uninhabited wilderness areas where ticks and their animal hosts live. Tickborne diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites. Most people become infected through tick bites during the spring and summer months.”
Dowling said the only research done into the disease(s) carried by local ticks was done 15 years ago, and the only ticks were from deer hunters and veterinarians. Using a broader population, researchers hope to get a more representative sample.
So far they have handed out more than 1,000 tick kits. Those include a special “ticked off” plastic spoon for removing ticks. There are five small plastic vials with different colored lids. Citizens collect the tick, put it in the vial, and record the date and place it was found. After being mailed in a pre-addressed, stamped envelope, the ticks are screened for pathogens known to cause human disease.
A hot question is whether Lyme disease is found in the area. The Arkansas Department of Health says Lyme disease isn’t found in the state, while the national Institutes of Health says Lyme is found in every state in the country except Hawaii. A number of local residents believe they have contracted Lyme disease here.
“The black legged tick is what vectors Lyme disease and we will screen them for Lyme and other diseases,” Dowling said. “I know Lyme is controversial. Some say there is no Lyme in the state. If it pops up in our samples, it will show there is Lyme in ticks.”
He said one reason quite a few people may believe they have contracted Lyme is that it causes similar symptoms to Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. Since most diseases are treated with the same antibiotic, sometimes doctors don’t test but just go ahead and prescribe the antibiotic when someone has symptoms after a tick bite.
“A lot of people get a tick bite, have a bull’s eye rash, don’t feel good, and assume they have Lyme disease,” Dowling said. “But the bull’s eye only shows up in a small percentage of people infected with Lyme except for some places in the Northeast. Others tick diseases can give you a similar bull’s eye, fatigue, aches, and fevers.”
Dowling said besides getting broader samples, a good thing about using citizen scientists to help with the study is that it helps raise awareness about tick diseases in the state.
“What better way to raise awareness than getting citizens involved,” Dowling said. “Most people realize we have lots of ticks, but may not realize there are a lot of pathogens in those ticks that can cause disease. If people are aware of it, get bitten and have the symptoms, it is easy to get treated with an antibiotic. And they can be vigilant about wearing insect repellant and removing ticks at the end of the day. Our research is not just about getting people to collect ticks from different areas, but raising awareness.”
When misdiagnosed and not treated, there can be serious health consequences. There is a three percent fatality rate with untreated ehrlichiosis, and untreated Lyme disease can cause arthritis-type symptoms.
“Short-term, none of the illnesses are that bad,” Dowling said. “Tick diseases are only a problem when they go untreated a long period of time.”
Some people have an adverse reaction to a bite from a Lone Star tick and can no longer eat red meat. Lone Star ticks carry a sugar called alpha-gal, which is also found in red meat. Alpha-gal in the blood of people can cause an allergic reaction when red meat is eaten.
Dowling said they are looking for way to test for alpha-gal, which is becoming more common.
“We don’t know much about it,” he said. “If we could figure out way to test it, we would throw that into the mix and see what we could find out.”
So far kits have been passed out at various outdoor stores, and farmers’ markets. Anyone interested in receiving a tick kit can email Dowling at uatickproject@gmail.com. Dowling plans to have tick kits available at locations in Eureka Springs, including Granny’s at 75 Spring St.
I once read that a tick can lie dormant up to 21 years, waiting to attach itself to a red-blooded creature. I learned a long time ago that taking masking tape or the wide gray tape with you in you car or pack will be very helpful. Used to have take the kids in the yard and hose them off after a day of playing outdoors in summer. Ahhh, Arkansas.