1 61 Wildlif e Mak e freq uent tic k c hec ks of all member s of the par ty especially those at the fr ont of a hiking par ty Bef or e going t o bed remo v e all clo thing and check each piece of clo thing f or ticks Carefully and thor oughly check y our body as w ell Ticks pref er the gr oin and the head especially the base of the neck and behind the ear s The y ha v e been f ound inside the ear canal and the nostrils Check hair scalp and arm pits A little mutual gr ooming monk e y s tyle will go a long w a y in de t ecting the presence of ticks If y ou f n d o n e t i c k the re are u su ally o the r s R e che ck tho r o u ghly R emo v al of Tic ks Ge ntl y grasp the tick as clo se t o the mo u th par t as po ssible with shar p po int e d tw e e ze r s Pu ll ge ntly and slo wly o v e r a pe riod of o ne t o tw o minu t e s while lif ting the tick u p o f f the skin T r y t o re mo v e the e ntire tick inclu ding mo u th par ts and a tin y co ne o f whit e ce me nt o f t e n assu me d t o be a pi e ce o f the victims skin DO NO T twist or je r k the tick as mo u th par ts ma y bre ak o f f in the w o u nd This will incre ase the po ssibility o f inf e ction sho u ld the tick carr y disease s DO NO T APPL Y a lit cigare tt e dr o ps of gaso line ace t o ne gre ase e tc t o the tick These actions ma y cau se the tick t o spe w o u t inf e cting micr o bes int o y o u r blo o dstre am Af t er R emo v a l W ash th e are a tho r ou ghly with so ap and w at er and apply a mild antise ptic Co ns u lt a do ct o r if an y sym pt o ms de v e lo p If w o r ki ng in an are a kno wn t o ha v e L yme dise ase y o u can se nd an e xtract e d living tick f o r analysis b y placing it and a dam p c o t t o n ball t o k eep it aliv e in a container with a tight ftting lid t o BC Ce ntr e f o r Dise ase Co ntr o l V e ct o r Bor ne Dise ase s Labo rat o r y 655 W e st 12th A v e V anco u v e r BC V5Z 4R4