Tick Bourne illness

Ticks carry with them an impressive number of ailments such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, Tularemia and Q fever.  While many of these diseases often go unknown to almost everyone except for infectious disease experts, some have become quiet famous. Lyme disease is one of the most well known tick bourne illnesses. 

Lyme Disease

Experts agree that Lyme disease has most likely existed for thousands of years. In fact, in the 2010 autopsy of Otzi the Iceman, a 5,300 year old mummified human, found evidence of the DNA of the lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia Burgdorferi. Over time physicians began to notice that sometimes when someone was bitten by a tick, they suffered a rash around the bite. It wasn't until 1975, when a team of doctors investigating an increasing number of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis cases in the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme Connecticut discovered Lyme disease. Upon further investigation, the doctors discovered that the symptoms they were observing were in fact caused by a bacterium later identified as Borrelia Burgdorferi. This bacteria is spread by deer ticks. The disease has spread over the years and the number of cases has increased. Approximately 25-50% of all infected patients do not develop a rash from the tick bite. Symptoms of Lyme Disease include, fatigue, fever, and headaches. If left untreated the symptoms can progress to joint pains, neck stiffness, and heart palpitations. The CDC estimates that since 1995 the number of yearly cases has increased from 11,000 to 25,000 in 2014. The most at risk group is young boys. 

For more information about Lyme disease, go to the CDC's Lyme page at http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html

DEET and you

Many conventional insect and tick repellents include the ingredient DEET. DEET stands for diethyltoluamide and was developed by the United States Army during the 40s for soldiers fighting in tropical environments. DEET can be extremely harmful to human health. In many cases it has been shown to cause skin irritation, difficulty breathing, burning eyes and headaches.   DEET is a toxin and should be treated as such. DEET should only be applied to outer clothing and if it is applied to skin, it should be washed off as soon as it is no longer needed. It is also not safe for young children to use DEET. In response to concerns about DEET and other chemicals found in insect and tick repellents, Tick Enemy was developed without using any of these harmful chemicals. Tick Enemy has instead been formulated using only all natural botanical ingredients.