(Østlandsposten): Kenneth Clementz, leader of the Larvik and Omegns Hunting and Fishing Association, says that more and more people have fallen ill in the areas around where he lives in Kjose, especially from .
– Among other things, I have a couple of friends, a father and son, who have both had TBE. A friend was in a wheelchair for a long time, and is still not one hundred percent healthy. Of course it’s scary when people suddenly become very ill, says the experienced hunter.
Picking hundreds
On his regular rounds in Kjose, the dog owner has several times experienced having to pick hundreds of scouts from their dogs after the end of the trip. At the same time, it was just as bad the next day.
– There will only be more and more and more of them, he says.
The experienced hunter says that he has often observed large occurrences of ticks in areas around Farris and Hallevannet.
– Many people have become very ill, so this is something we take seriously. If I had small children now, I would be extremely careful about checking them, says Clementz.
He says that the situation affects everyday life, both for the hunting colleagues and the villagers. Most people take the conditions seriously.
How to prevent tick bites
- When the forest tick searches for a host animal, it climbs into the vegetation and waits for an animal or person to pass, then latches onto fur, skin or clothing. It is especially important to protect the legs, as wood ticks often get to the legs first.
- Walk on paths and roads rather than places with tall grass, heather and scrub if possible.
- Feel free to wear long trousers and make sure your ankles are well covered.
- Use tick/mosquito repellent. Insect repellents with diethyltoluamide (DEET) or Icaridin on skin and clothing can reduce the number of ticks that attach. Both DEET and Icaridin can be used on both clothing and skin. In addition, there are sprays to impregnate clothes, shoes, tents etc. These contain Permethrin in a low dose (0.5%) and are effective against ticks (but should not be used on the skin).
- Wear bright clothes. It makes it much easier to see the tick.
- Check yourself for ticks if you have been out in an area where there may be ticks. The tick can be difficult to see, so be careful with the check.
- Ticks can bite on almost any area of the skin, except the hands. Typical sites for tick bites in adults include the lower leg, behind the knee, groin, under the breast and in the armpit. In children, typical places for tick bites are the back, chest, neck, behind the ear and the scalp.
- The tick can climb around on clothes and skin for quite some time before it bites, so it’s a good idea to change clothes if, for example, you’ve been on a mushroom trip, hunting etc.
- To get rid of ticks on clothes, put the clothes in the dryer or hang them up to dry in the sun. The forest goat cannot tolerate drought and will quickly die if exposed to sun/wind/heat. Ticks will also die if you wash your clothes at 60°C.
- The tick does not always disappear even if you shower or bathe. So don’t forget the tick check!
- Do you have a dog or a cat? Check them for ticks daily and use tick repellent prescribed by the vet.
- Are you going to travel? Read up on which tick species and diseases exist in the country you are visiting. There are over 900 different species of ticks in the world, and at least 25 tick-borne diseases that humans can get sick from. Many of these are only found in specific geographical areas.
Source: The tick centre
– It is sad
– We encourage people who are out in the forest a lot to get vaccinated and cover themselves well with clothes. It is also important to check yourself for scouts when you get home, both yourself and the dogs, he says and continues:
– We recommend that people still walk in the skau, but it may be a good idea to follow paths and such, where it is a bit downtrodden, perhaps follow a tractor road or a path. Unfortunately, I think more people have become more skeptical about being in the show. It is terribly sad, he says.
Clementz says that it is not only people who are struggling with development, but also the animals.
– I also have sheep that I lubricate, it helps, but for the dogs it is cruel. It’s also expensive, with five dogs it’s a few thousand Swedish kroner a year, he says.
Clementz is hoping for fewer ticks this year. He says that so far it looks a little better than last year, but he clarifies that it is a little early to say anything for sure about how the summer will be.
No treatment
Biological advisor at the Tick Center in Kristiansand, Yvonne Kerlefsen, tells Østlands-Posten that according to the statistics, we are seeing an increase in both Lyme disease and TBE in Norway.
By the Oslo Fjord, Larvik and Porsgrunn are two of the municipalities where TBE infection via ticks occurs the most.
– Only one percent of ticks carry TBE. But if you look at the map, the occurrence of TBE-infected ticks is patchy. This means that in some places they are completely absent, while in other places there are more. There are probably places in Larvik where there is an accumulation of TBE in ticks, she says.
Unlike Lyme disease, which is a bacterial infection, TBE is a virus. There is no treatment for the infection itself.
– If you become infected with TBE, you often end up in hospital to alleviate the symptoms and get through the course of the disease more easily. The typical thing is that the infection itself goes away after a couple of weeks, but it is a serious infection and especially in the elderly. Around a third of those patients suffer long-term damage as a result of the infection, says Yvonne Kerlefsen.
If you have been bitten
- Do not panic, but remove the tick as soon as possible. The Lyme bacterium resides in the tick’s intestinal system. If you are bitten by a tick that contains Lyme disease, it will take approximately 24 hours for the bacteria to move from the tick’s stomach to you. If the tick is removed within a day, there is little risk of becoming infected. An exception is the TBE virus, which can cause the disease tick encephalitis. The virus is found in the tick’s salivary glands and can therefore be transmitted immediately after a tick bite.
- Feel free to use tweezers/tick remover when removing the tick. You can also use your nails. The most important thing is to get it out quickly.
- Grasp the tick right inside the skin and pull it straight out.
- It does not matter if the “head” of the tick remains in the skin. This does not increase the risk of Lyme disease.
Source: The tick centre
