I’ve been bitten. What do I do?

The Tick Program recommends following the procedures and advice from the Center for Disease control outlined in this link: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/pdfs/FS_TickBite.pdf.

To their excellent advice we would add a few Vineyard specific caveats:

1. Since we live in an area where Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses are common, we heartily endorse their suggestion that you seek medical advice if you have a deer tick that has been attached for more than 24 hours or is engorged or begun to “swell up”. We also endorse the preventative practice of taking the single dose of two doxycycline, which has been shown to reduce the risk of Lyme disease considerably, ONLY if certain criteria are met.

2. Much less is known about lone star ticks and how long they need to be attached before they can transmit any diseases, but they are the main concern for triggering Alpha-Gal Syndrome, an allergy to mammal-based products. You may want to consult a doctor if you find a lone star tick attached. Click HERE for help with identifying our three common species of ticks. You can also take a photo of the tick and

  • Email top-side photo of the tick to Patrick Roden-Reynolds at mvticks@gmail.com and I will try to identify it. You can also message us on Facebook at MV Tick Prevention Program.

  • You can also submit a photo of your tick to TickSpotters - hosted by University of Rhode Island

3. Most people we know do not see a doctor when they are bitten by a dog tick, since dog ticks rarely transmit disease organisms to humans. If you decide not to seek medical advice, you should still monitor yourself closely and note any unusual symptoms. A small percentage of dog ticks do carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a potentially serious disease if not treated quickly

4. We suggest that when you remove an attached tick you tape it to an index card and note the date it was removed or tape it to your calendar on the date it was removed. Use fine-tipped tweezers to remove ticks. Tick Remover tweezers

5. We agree with the CDC recommendations about pathogen testing a tick. However, if you want to have your tick tested click HERE for different testing options.

  • We suggest using TickReport, which maintains a database to help document pathogen prevalence and distribution.