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Many Kinds Of Ticks...Many Kinds Of Tick-Borne Diseases.

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One tick can infect a person with more than Lime diseases with one bite. Several tick bites can make diagnosis and treatment difficult and involve many systems of the body. These infections can be transmitted by ticks in the nymph stage, fleas, deerflies and very possibly mosquitoes.

Unless you are an expert on tick classification, it's wise to assume all ticks can carry disease. The ticks most commonly referred to are the black- legged and the western black-legged, but others to be wary of include:

Rocky Mountain wood tick, Pacific Coast tick, American dog tick; brown dog tick, lone star tick and the soft tick, which feeds mainly at night and transmits disease very quickly. Some other tick borne diseases:

Babesiosis: This infection is like malaria and the western black-legged tick and black-legged tick, and possibly the mosquito transmit this disease. The symptoms are: fever, chills, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, jaundice and anemia. This disease is severe and can be fatal for the elderly or those who have had their spleens surgically removed.

Colorado Tick Fever: This is a viral disease transmitted by the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the Pacific Coast tick. The symptoms are: high fever, chills, severe headache, muscle aches and sometimes a faint rash that lasts a week or less. Complications of this infection include encephalitis, heart problems and severe bleeding.

Ehrlichiosis: This bacterial infection is transmitted by the American dog, brown dog, lone star, black-legged and Western black-legged tick. The symptoms are: fever, malaise, headache, chills, severe muscle aches or pain, vomiting, anemia, lung infection, decrease in white blood cells, elevated liver enzymes and neurological symptoms include seizures, meningitis, confusion, ataxia, cranial nerve palsy, and decline in mental status. This can be fatal if treatment is delayed.

Relapsing Fever: This is a multi-system disease transmitted by soft tick. Symptoms include: bouts of fever and chills, headache, muscle and joint pain that alternates with the fever. The infection can be detected during the fever stage.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: This is most prevalent in the eastern U.S., but has also been reported all across the nation. The Rocky Mountain wood, American dog and Pacific Coast ticks transmit the disease. Rickettsia is a similar disease with similar symptoms. Symptoms include: Flu-like aches, headache, chills, confusion, light sensitivity, high fever, a reddish-black measle-like rash that may spread over the entire body. This is fatal if proper treatment is delayed.

Tick Paralysis: This disease is caused by a toxin in the saliva of a female tick and is potentially fatal. Rocky Mountain wood, American dog and lone star ticks can transmit this disease. Symptoms include: headache, vomiting, general malaise, loss of motor function and reflexes, paralysis in the lower body that spreads to the rest of the body. Respiratory failure and death can occur and young children can die in one or two days after being infected.