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KEY POINTS
- Ehrlichiosis is an infection caused by the bite of a tick infected with bacteria. It affects animals such as dogs, deer, coyotes, and mice, as well as humans.
- Ehrlichiosis is treated with antibiotic medicine. If your symptoms are serious, you may be treated in the hospital.
- Follow the full course of treatment prescribed by your healthcare provider. Do not stop taking antibiotics because you start to feel better or your symptoms go away.
- Wear clothing and use insect repellant to avoid ticks. If you find a tick attached to your body, you need to remove it.
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What is ehrlichiosis?
Ehrlichiosis is an infection caused by the bite of a tick infected with bacteria. It affects animals, such as dogs, deer, coyotes, and mice, as well as humans.
Rarely, especially without prompt treatment, the infection can become severe and life threatening, causing serious complications such as infection in the brain, seizures, or heart failure.
What is the cause?
Ticks are found in woods, forests, grasslands, and marshlands and at the seashore. Wild birds and animals, as well as domestic animals and pets such as dogs, horses, and cows, can carry ticks. Ticks may climb on humans from animals, leaves, or low-lying brush. Ticks cannot jump or fly.
This disease does not spread from person to person. It is spread from the bite of an infected tick. In the US, the infection is more common in the southeastern and south central parts of the country.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of ehrlichiosis vary. They may appear a few days to 3 weeks after a tick bite. You may not remember getting the bite.
Symptoms may include:
- Muscle aches
- Feeling tired
- Headache
- Fever and chills
- Nausea and vomiting
- Cough
- Joint pain
- Confusion
Unlike some other infections spread by ticks, the infection does not usually cause a rash.
How is it diagnosed?
Your healthcare provider will ask about your symptoms and medical history and examine you. You may have blood tests.
How is it treated?
Ehrlichiosis is treated with antibiotic medicine, usually for 7 to 10 days. If your symptoms are serious, you may be treated in the hospital.
Without treatment, the symptoms of ehrlichiosis may last for up to 2 months. Once you start taking antibiotics, you will usually start feeling better in a couple of days.
How can I take care of myself?
Follow the full course of treatment prescribed by your healthcare provider. Do not stop taking antibiotics because you start to feel better or your symptoms go away. Ask your healthcare provider:
- How long it will take to recover
- If there are activities you should avoid and when you can return to your normal activities
- How to take care of yourself at home
- What symptoms or problems you should watch for and what to do if you have them
Make sure you know when you should come back for a checkup.
How can I help prevent ehrlichiosis?
- In areas of thick underbrush, try to stay near the center of trails.
- When you are outdoors, wear long-sleeved shirts tucked into your pants. Wear long pants tucked into your socks or boot tops if possible. A hat may help, too. Wearing light-colored clothing may make it easier to spot the small tick before it reaches your skin and bites. While you are outside, check for ticks every 4 hours and remove any ticks on clothing or exposed skin.
- Use approved tick repellents on exposed skin and clothing. Don't use more repellent than recommended in the package directions. Don't put repellent on open wounds or rashes. When using sprays, don’t spray the repellent directly on your face. Spray the repellent on your hands first and then put it on your face, but not close to your eyes or mouth. Then wash the spray off your hands.
- Adults should use products with no more than 35% DEET. Children older than 2 months can use repellents with no more than 30% DEET. DEET should be applied just once a day. Wash it off your body when you go back indoors. Some products contain more than 35% DEET. The higher concentrations are no more effective than the lower concentrations, but they may last longer. Read the label carefully before applying.
- Picaridin may irritate the skin less than DEET and appears to be just as effective.
- Spray clothes with repellents because insects may crawl from clothing to the skin or bite through thin clothing. Products containing permethrin are recommended for use on clothing, shoes, bed nets, and camping gear. Permethrin-treated clothing repels and kills ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects and can keep working after laundering. Permethrin should be reapplied to clothing according to the instructions on the product label. You can buy clothing and hats pretreated with permethrin. Permethrin does not work as a repellent when it is put on the skin.
- Treat household pets for ticks and fleas. Check pets after they've been outdoors.
- Brush off clothing and pets before entering the house.
- After you have been outdoors, undress and check your body for ticks. They usually crawl around for several hours before biting. Check your clothes, too. Wash them right away to remove any ticks.
- If you find a tick attached to your body, you need to remove it.
- Grasp the tick with tweezers or fingers (covered with gloves or a tissue) as close to the skin as possible. Gently pull the tick straight away from you until it releases its hold. Use a slow gentle pulling motion. Pulling the tick out too quickly may tear the body from the mouth, leaving the mouth still in the skin. If you are unable to remove the tick completely, you may need to see your healthcare provider. Do not twist the tick as you pull, and try not to squeeze its body.
- After you have removed the tick, thoroughly wash your hands and the bite area with soap and water. Put an antiseptic such as rubbing alcohol on the area where you were bitten.
- Put the tick in a sealed plastic bag and keep it in the freezer. Identification of the tick may help your provider diagnose and treat any symptoms. If you do not have any symptoms of disease after 1 month, you can throw away the tick.
- Shower and shampoo after your outing.
- Inspect any gear you were carrying.
- If you spend much time hiking, you may want to include a pair of tick tweezers in your first-aid kit. You can buy them at sporting goods stores.
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