Ticks Cause Trouble for Oklahomans, Doctors

Tick bites can give you Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the symptoms are similar to the H1N1 flu.

Saturday, May 30th 2009, 11:24 pm

By: News 9


By Jacqueline Sit, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The seasonal flu may be gone, but another illness is bringing new concerns for doctors.

Tick bites can cause Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the symptoms are similar to the H1N1 flu. This could make it difficult for doctors to diagnose the illness and there are health risks that come with the bite.

"They are a nuisance and Oklahoma is a hotbed for tick-borne infections," Dr. Darrin Akins with the OU Health Sciences Center said.

These summer pests are springing up more around the state and these ticks are everywhere with the wet weather turned warm temperatures.

"People have to realize that ticks don't just crawl up your legs from the ground, ticks also hang out in trees and actually drop on to you so you have to be very careful," Dr. Akins said.

Ticks can carry and pass along Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Experts say in most cases, the fever starts with flu-like symptoms including fever, nausea, vomiting and muscle pain. Dr. Akins said ticks are tiny, nearly pinhead size small, and could be hard to track.

There are some tricks to repel them. Keep your grass and shrubs short. Wear light colored clothing that will make it easier to spot them and if all else fails use DEET.

Dr. Akins said the cases of fever have quadrupled in the last decade because the cities are growing over rural areas.

"We're taking over the land the ticks used to own so we're getting closer to them," Dr. Akins said. "So instead of them feeding on animals as they typically do, if the humans happen to be around, they're just as happy to feed on the human."

Read the Center for Disease Control's Tips to Repel Ticks.

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