Identification

Blacklegged ticks are very small. Adult blacklegged ticks are the size of a sesame seed. Young ticks, which are called nymphs, can be as small as a pinhead and very hard to see.  

If you need help figuring out what kind of tick you found, you can: 

• Bring it to CK Public Health, Clinic Services during business hours to have it checked by a Public Health Inspector.  
• Take a clear photo of the tick and send it to etick.ca for identification.  

Symptoms

Early symptoms of Lyme disease appear 3 to 30 days after a bite by an infected blacklegged tick. Most people experience flu-like symptoms, including: 

• A rash at the site of the tick bite (sometimes shaped like a bullseye) 
• Fever 
• Chills 
• Headache 
• Muscle and joint pain 
• Swollen lymph nodes 

If Lyme disease is not treated, additional symptoms can appear months or even years later. These include: 

• Additional skin rashes 
• Severe headaches 
• Facial paralysis 
• Heart palpitations or irregular heartbeat 
• Dizziness or shortness of breath 
• Confusion, memory loss and inflammation of the brain or spinal cord 
• Shooting pains, numbness or tingling in hands and feet 
• Arthritis and severe joint pain and swelling 

See a health care provider immediately if you develop symptoms of Lyme disease after getting a tick bite. 

Protection

The best way to protect yourself from Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. Here’s what you can do:

• Wear bug spray with DEET or Icaridin when outdoors
• Wear long sleeves and pants
• Avoid walking through long grass
• Shower within two hours of spending time outdoors and check yourself for ticks
• If you find a tick on your body, remove it with fine-point tweezers

Impact

CK Public Health takes steps to track and help prevent Lyme disease. Here's what we do: 

• Collect ticks from areas where blacklegged ticks have been reported and send them for testing. This helps find new places where Lyme disease might be a risk and lets the public know. 
• Check ticks that have been taken off people to give useful information to healthcare providers. 

Protection

The best way to protect yourself from West Nile virus is to prevent mosquito breeding and protect yourself from bites. Here’s what you can do: 

• Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pant and socks. 
• Apply insect repellent containing DEET or Icaridin sparingly to exposed skin surfaces. 
• Stay indoors when mosquitoes are most active between dusk and dawn. 
• Clean birdbaths weekly. 
• Maintain ornamental ponds and aerate them or stock them with larvae-eating fish. 
• Cover or turn over toys and equipment that can hold standing water. 
• Drill holes in the bottoms of containers that cannot be removed. 
• Place screens over rain barrels. 
• Fill hollow tree stumps and rot holes that hold water with sand or dirt. 
• Do not allow water to collect on pool covers. 
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools and hot tubs. 
• Empty wading pools when they are not in use. 
• Clean roof gutters and remove standing water from flat roofs. 
• Cut the grass and reduce excess vegetation where mosquitoes seek shelter during the day. 
• Report standing water on private property to CK Public Health. 

Impact

CK Public Health works to track and stop the spread of West Nile virus. This is especially important in busy areas where people are more at risk. We do this by: 

• Catching mosquitoes every week in different communities in Chatham-Kent during spring and summer. We look at what kind of mosquitoes they are and test them for West Nile virus if needed. This helps track the virus in our area and across Ontario. 
• Coordinating the treatment of catch basins (street drains) with larvicide. It stops mosquitoes from laying eggs. These drains are common places for mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. Each year, about 10,000 catch basins are treated in Chatham-Kent. Making sure people follow the Chatham-Kent bylaw that says there can't be standing water on private property between May 15 and September 30. People have to get rid of standing water or take care of it so mosquito larvae can't grow.