Ahh, ticks. They’re high up on the scale of things that make us get all twitchy and paranoid whenever they get mentioned on a ride. Even worse than making you freak out when you see a small dot on your leg (it’s probably mud, again) the little buggers can spread the debilitating Lyme disease.
To this end, bushcraft and survival expert Ray Mears has joined the fight against Lyme disease by lending his support to tick-borne disease charity BADA-UK (Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness-UK).
Tick Bite Prevention Week, which runs from 11-17th April 2011, is an annual programme which helps promote awareness of tick-borne diseases and effective tick bite prevention for at-risk groups.
According to the Health Protection Agency, up to 3,000 people contract Lyme disease (Borreliosis) from the bite of an infected tick each year in the UK. As a victim of Lyme disease himself, Ray understands the importance of being aware of ticks and the diseases they carry, and of the preventative measures that can be taken to help prevent ticks from biting people and pets.
“I feel that there is not enough awareness of Lyme disease in this country, given the fact that in rare cases it may become chronic”, Ray said.
Primary schools and youth groups are being invited to take part in Tick Bite Prevention Week with a range of material which are available to download to help schools highlight the dangers of tick bites to pupils in a fun and engaging way.
A dedicated website has been launched offering advice on what to do if bitten and how to stay protected in the warmer months at www.tickbitepreventionweek.org.
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Yea it’s a big issue, I get pretty much one tick per ride. Somehow I manage to run away the disease but still… I always wear lycratype underlayer under baggy stuff both on the upper body and on the thighs. I use lemon straw based natural anti-insect cream (Tesco chemical crap can work too, or maybe better, but carcinogens don’t help health either) During a ride, everytime I stop for a breather I scrub all the open parts of my body with the glove. After every ride when I shower I check myself carefuly. Then I ask my wife to check my head and my back. Watch yourself
I’m in the northeast.. but i believe its more of a problem in some areas than others.
Isn’t brushing a tick off a no no? Thought that you were supposed to use the special tool? I have only ever had one tick bite me that I know of. This was last year on a casual walk on the Roaches. It was a couple of hours later that I noticed an itch on my leg, brushed it and came back with quite a bit of blood on my hand. Bugger must have been raight full. Ended up having to have 2 different treatments of anti-biotics, the 2nd being a 2 week quite aggressive course as I ended up with a pretty bad infection in my leg. I tend to not be paranoid about them but certainly worth keeping in mind.
Very timely. Alot of my biking is done in heathland. I have had some nasty bites in the past that have ulcerated.
See the BBC link http://tiny.cc/9yeqw