information:classification
Tick-borne disease

Ticks can transmit many kinds of pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, that infect ticks’ hosts. A tick can harbor more than one type of pathogen, making diagnosis more difficult. Species of the bacterial genus Rickettsia are responsible for typhus, rickettsialpox, boutonneuse fever, African tick bite fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Flinders Island spotted fever, and Queensland tick typhus (Australian tick typhus). Other tick-borne diseases include Lyme disease and Q fever, Colorado tick fever, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, tick-borne relapsing fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Bourbon virus, and tick-borne meningoencephalitis, as well as bovine anaplasmosis and the Heartland virus. In the United States, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the country.

Some species, notably the Australian paralysis tick, are also intrinsically venomous and can cause tick paralysis. Eggs can become infected with pathogens inside a female tick's ovaries, in which case the larval ticks are infectious immediately at hatching, before feeding on their first host. Tropical bont ticks transmit the heartwater, which can be particularly devastating in cattle. The ticks carried by migratory birds act as reservoirs and vectors of foreign infectious diseases. In the Egyptian migratory bird study, over 20 strains of pathogenic viruses were detected within the tick sample from autumn.

Not all ticks in an infective area are infected with transmittable pathogens, and both attachment of the tick and a long feeding session are necessary for diseases to be transmitted. Consequently, tick bites often do not lead to infection, especially if the ticks are removed within 36 hours. Adult ticks can be removed with fine-tipped tweezers or proprietary tick removal tools, before then disinfecting the wound. In Australia and New Zealand, where tick-borne infections are less common than tick reactions, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy recommends seeking medical assistance or killing ticks in-situ by freezing and then leaving them to fall out to prevent allergic/anaphylactic reactions. Professor Sheryl van Nunen, whose research in 2007 identified tick-induced mammalian meat allergy, famously said " tweezers are tick squeezers ", referring to the tick toxins squeezed into people attempting to remove ticks with tweezers. Ticks can be disposed of by flushing them down the toilet, placing them in a container of soapy water or alcohol, or sticking them to tape that can then be folded over and thrown away.

Bifenthrin and permethrin, both pyrethroids, are sometimes used as tick-control measures, although they have the disadvantage of being carcinogenic and able to attack the nervous systems of other species besides ticks. Those who walk through tick-infested areas can make it harder for ticks to latch onto them by tucking their trousers into boots made of smooth rubber, which ticks have trouble climbing.

Research since 2008 has documented red-meat allergies (mammalian meat allergy and Alpha-gal allergy) in the U.S. due to lone star tick bites. The range of the problem has been expanding with the range of the tick. Other species of ticks are known for being responsible for meat allergies in other countries, including Sweden, Germany, and Australia.

Many tick-transmitted viruses, such as Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Kyasanur Forest disease virus, Alkhumra hemorrhagic fever virus, and Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus, are classified as dangerous enough to require biosafety level 4 precautions in laboratory environments. This includes five levels of containment, viz., storage vials within humidified desiccators, within environmental chambers, within a tick suite, within a BSL4 laboratory. Precautions such as glove boxes, sticky pads, Vaseline barriers, safety suits, gloves, sticky tape, silicone vacuum grease, sticky trap paste, and micro mesh are used to safely contain ticks and prevent them from escaping.