New animation video: how to prevent a tick bite.

Preventing tick bite:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants when walking or working in areas where ticks occur,

• Tuck pants into long socks,

• Wear a wide-brimmed hat,

• Wear light-coloured clothing,

• Use insect repellent, particularly ones containing DEET.

how to remove a tick?

If you are bitten by a tick, kill the tick where it is:

For small ticks (larvae and nymphs), use permethrin cream (available at pharmacies).

For adult ticks, freeze them with an ether-containing spray (available at pharmacies).

And remember, household tweezers are tick squeezers!

Avoidance of tick bites is the best option. This involves “dressing for the occasion” and the use of repellents see suggestions here.

alpha-gal allergy

MAMMALIAN meat & meat product ALLERGY After TICK BITES

Tick bites can cause mild to life-threatening allergic reactions to mammalian meats such as beef, pork, lamb, kangaroo, goat and venison.

The tick bites occur before any allergic reactions to mammalian meats.

The allergic reactions to meat are typically delayed for 2-10 hours after eating the meat.

The allergen in the meat to which people react is called “alpha-gal”.

Some people are so sensitive to alpha-gal, they react to mammal products, particularly, their milks and gelatine. Any product derived from mammals may cause allergic reactions, making avoidance very difficult as the allergen may be found in a wide range of agents used in medical treatments, as well as in foods.

tick anaphylaxis

The basics

Tick bites may result in allergic reactions to the ticks themselves, including anaphylaxis, and, rarely, there have been fatalities.

Only adult ticks cause anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction).

Allergy to proteins in the tick’s saliva is the cause of these reactions.

Tick anaphylaxis is very rare in countries other than Australia, but is not uncommon in tick-prevalent areas of Australia.

Crucially, people who suffer an anaphylactic reaction to a tick only do so when the tick is disturbed. 

Local swellings at the site of a tick bite may be forerunner to the development of mammalian meat allergy or tick anaphylaxis.