Archive for category Barrier Sprays
Is our U.S. blood supply safe from insect-borne illness?
Posted by Robin Steele in Babesiosis, Barrier Sprays, CDC, Lyme disease, Malaria, Mosquito Squad, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tick Protection, Tick Tubes, Tick-borne illnesses and diseases on September 16, 2011
Dread Skeeter of Mosquito Squad helps prevent tick bites by killing ticks in your yard
Is our United states blood supply safe from insect borne illness? Until just recently the answer, we all thought, would have been yes, but with the recent discovery of the tick-borne parasite Babesia being discovered in our nation’s blood supply sending a red flag as to just how vulnerable our blood supply is from insect-borne illnesses such as this. Babesia is the parasite which causes the disease Babesiosis which is similar to Malaria. Babesiosis has even been referred to as “America’s Malaria”. The disease itself can lead to anemia, organ failure and even death.
Symptoms of Babesiosis can be asymptomatic, and can display similarities with symptoms of the flu, colds or other common viral illnesses. Early on, many people do not even know they have the disease and therefore go about their normal everyday lives and usual routines, many of which may involve donating life saving blood to many organizations around the U.S. to help others. Since there is no test to detect Babesia in a blood sample at the present time, donors are asked if they have ever had Babesiosis, and many infected aren’t even aware they have it, let alone even know what the disease is due to the lack of media and knowledge about the disease. Most people are aware of illnesses such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but when asked about Babesiosis, many people aren’t even aware it exists. This is certainly cause for concern and we need to make the public more aware of lesser known tick-borne diseases such as Babesiosis.
Is our blood supply safe from tick-borne parasites and disease?
The Babesia parasite takes up residence within the red blood cells of its victims, and right now there is not a way to test the donated blood for the presence of the parasite. To date there have been 159 documented cases of Babesiosis which were caused by receiving blood transfusions which contained blood tainted with the parasite. In those 159 cases, 136 of them were tracked down. 30 of these cases were caused by 12 donors, because donated blood is split into red blood cells as well as platelets. The cases occurred in 19 states, but 87% of them were within the 7 states where Babesiosis is considered to be endemic which are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Connecticut, and New York. These numbers however, reflect documented cases, with Babesiosis many cases go misdiagnosed or unreported because of the similarities with the symptoms of common illnesses such as the flu. Officials are taking heed and public health authorities are stressing the growing risks of Babesiosis.
The tick is a vector of many illnesses and diseases, so small yet so dangerous.
So what can we do about this dilemma? Advocates ask for better testing to come forth to detect the presence of tick-borne parasites within the blood. As it stands now, if a physician diagnoses a patient with Babesiosis then he/she must report the information onto that states health department, which in turn is supposed to pass the information onto the CDC ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Of course, since the disease and parasite which causes the disease is caused by the tick, preventing being bitten or exposed to an infected tick is top priority as well. Common sense practices within your living areas and property and avoiding possible tick infested areas is an excellent way to avoid becoming a victim.
This image shows tick tubes placed in the tick's environment for optimum results.
Common sense practices include increasing your knowledge of the tick-borne illnesses and their symptoms. Keep your property free of debris, heavy brush and tall grasses and keeping your property trimmed and mowed. Have a licensed professional treat your property. Conduct frequent examinations of your body and clothing after each visit outside. Shower immediately after exposure to outside areas where ticks can reside. Instilling the use of tick tubes, or other tick abatement practices if you reside within areas with heavy tick populations can also cut your risk of exposure significantly.
Mosquito Squad stops ticks dead in their tracks
Mosquito Squad offers a wide range of tick control services including the use of tick tubes and barrier sprays for your property. Contact Mosquito Squad to learn more about killing and preventing ticks in and around your property, and reduce your risk of infection from tick-borne illnesses and disease.
804.353.6999 • info@mosquitosquad.com
Now you see them, then you won’t. Tick biting – a cautionary tale.
Posted by Robin Steele in Barrier Sprays, Deer ticks, Life cycle of the tick, Lyme disease, Tick-borne illnesses and diseases, Types of ticks on September 16, 2011
Dread Skeeter of Mosquito Squad-waging the war on ticks and tick-borne illness and disease.
Chances are, in your neck of the woods, the ticks that are biting right now are the larger adult ticks which are easily detected because they are bigger, more visible, and we are more apt to feel their presence than that of a smaller tick. Just because the ticks are in their adult cycle of life among most areas of the country does not mean we are “out of the woods”, so to speak, when it comes to the dangers of tick-borne illnesses and disease.
The nymph tick is small and harder to detect than adult ticks.
The life cycle of the tick is quite complex. The female tick lays her eggs within her environment. A female tick can lay up to 22,000 eggs at a time. Then the eggs will hatch and the offspring will seek their first meal of blood. This is the larval stage. Once a host for their “dinner party” has been found they will feed for several days then drop off the host to begin to digest its meal. After a few weeks the larva will molt and become nymphal ticks. These are the ticks that are highly prevalent during the spring. Small in size, and hard to detect on your body. These nymph ticks will continue to seek hosts to feed from and continue to molt until they reach adulthood, getting larger each time they molt, then as mother nature surely predicts they will also breed and lay eggs and the circle of life continues. Some species of ticks can live up to two years.
Ticks are less likely to be detected while in their nymph stage, which happens during the spring. During the nymph stage of the tick’s life cycle, they are still able to feed and spread disease and can be as small as a pin dot, and quite difficult to detect.
In the unique and complex connection that is required for a deer tick to ultimately bite and infect a human with Lyme disease, it all begins with a mouse or rodent to facilitate the chain. A little known fact is that rodent nesting season is happening right now. This includes the white footed mouse, and other rodents that are responsible for aiding in the spread of ticks which carry Lyme disease. The deer tick that is the vector for Lyme disease which feeds off the rodent and is carried back to the rodent’s nest, whereas this begins the cycle of tick to animal or human contact to feed and possibly spread dangerous and debilitating Lyme disease as well.
This image shows tick tubes placed in the environment for optimum results.
Mosquito Squad is instituting the use of tick tubes to fight ticks at their source to prevent Lyme disease as well as cutting down on the tick population that will ultimately affect us during the upcoming spring that lies only months away. Tick Tubes are small tubes that are filled with cotton which has been treated with a tick-killing insecticide which is safe for humans and animals, including mice, but kills the tick. The mice transfer the cotton from these tick tubes to use as bedding material within their winter nest’s and the treated cotton will kill ticks within the nest and on the mouse itself. It is a win/win situation. The mice get a fluffy nest for their young, and the ticks are killed, which helps reduce the chances of a tick infecting us with Lyme disease. Tick tubes have been found to reduce the chances of being bitten by a tick that could be a potential carrier of Lyme disease by up to 90% according to a tick tube study conducted on Fire Island, N.Y.
Mosquito Squad stops ticks dead in their tracks
The effective use of tick tubes as part of our tick abatement program which includes our safe and effective barrier sprays designed to kill ticks on contact, used in conjunction with tick tubes give you maximum tick protection and peace of mind in an uncertain world. Contact Mosquito Squad to learn more 804.353.6999 • info@mosquitosquad.com
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