Correspondents NGS.NOVOSTI collected a dozen popular myths about carriers of the encephalitis virus and asked doctors and scientists to comment on them. It turned out that some of them are the naked truth, but most of the myths remain folk tales. So, below are 13 of the most popular myths about ticks.
Myth one:
Ticks live only in forests and groves and attack from trees.
It's a delusion. Firstly, in addition to the taiga tick, which lives in forests or on the border with forests, there is also a Pavlovsky tick - it is able to survive in dead wood and on the edges. On dry landscapes, in the fields, the meadow tick also lives. From trees, ticks never attack, they do not climb trees at all.
Myth two:
Ticks prefer white people
This myth went from there that ticks are more noticeable on white clothes. However, ticks are simply not able to choose a victim by the color of their clothes - they have no eyes.
Myth three:
Ticks prefer to bite people with a certain blood type.
This myth is based on popular observations: supposedly some people are bitten by ticks often and with pleasure, while others who were with them are bypassed. Studies confirming the taste preferences of ticks depending on the blood type have not been conducted. But the gender of the victim may matter. Scientists have found that women are more attractive to ticks than men.
Myth four:
Ticks don't like to bite drunk people.
Do not wishful thinking, no studies confirming this fact have been conducted.
Myth six:
Only female ticks bite and can infect
It is not true. Individuals of different sexes have differences in the feeding strategy: females need to stick to the victim for a long time, up to three or four days, because in order for eggs to form in the body, protein is needed. Males stick only for 25 minutes to replenish moisture reserves. However, it is they who turn out to be more dangerous: their oral apparatus is not as powerful as that of females, so it can dine and fall away without even being noticed. However, both females and males can be carriers of encephalitis and borreliosis equally.
Myth seven:
A tick that crawls on the skin can infect before it bites
The causative agent of the virus can enter the body either through damaged skin or through mucous membranes. A tick can indeed secrete saliva even before suction, but it is dangerous only when interacting with wounds, cracks and mucous membranes.
Myth nine:
There were no ticks in the USSR, and then they were thrown here by foreign enemies, possibly the Japanese
This assumption is a very big compliment to foreign researchers. Ticks themselves have always existed: they even fed on dinosaurs. As for viral encephalitis, its first studies were undertaken in the 30s of the last century in connection with the development of the Far East, since it was then that immigrants from Central Russia began to get sick en masse with the virus. By the way, it was then that Russian scientists isolated the tick-borne encephalitis virus, and at that time scientists were not able to create a new virus in any country in the world.
Myth ten:
Repellents - reliable protection against ticks
No. Repellents are one of the last places among the measures of protection against crawling and tick bites.
Myth eleven:
Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis solves all problems
Vaccination is the most effective protection against encephalitis, but it does not protect against tick bites.
Myth twelve:
The closer the tick stuck to the head, the faster the disease will develop, and if the tick is immediately removed, then infection can be avoided.
This is not true. The tick-borne encephalitis virus that enters is spread hematogenously (i.e. with blood flow) throughout the body. Unfortunately, even if the tick bite was short-lived, the risk of contracting tick-borne infections cannot be ruled out.
Myth thirteen:
Having found a sucked tick on the body, you need to fill it with sunflower oil - and it will fall off by itself
Experts note that this is an erroneous strategy, adhering to which you can only waste time. Because the tick needs to be removed as soon as possible.
Prepared by K. Dimova
Ticks cause many very unpleasant associations and feelings, but these are amazing creatures classified as arachnids. So what do we know about them, what secrets does nature hold in itself? At your discretion, interesting and unusual facts about ticks are presented.
The female tick is capable of laying from 15 to 20 thousand eggs- you must admit, few animals and even insects can boast of such indicators of fertility and the number of offspring. Of course, the percentage of survival in this case also plays a role, changing the number of livestock up or down, but, nevertheless, the very fact that this small insect can produce so many offspring is amazing. 
In nature, the female is able to lay even unfertilized eggs in the clutch - in this case, quite viable larvae will also come out of her. In nature, such a phenomenon is called parthenogenesis, when the opportunity to continue one's kind goes without the participation of a sexual partner.
Many scientists are surprised and amazed by the ability of a tick to starve and go without food for a long time - an adult can go without food for 2 years, without harming its own body.
A tick can slow down its own development at any stage due to changing climate and living conditions. So the female tick can stop laying eggs for 2-4 months, and the larva itself - molting and, accordingly, its growth and development. All this helps them survive the drought and lack of food, cold.
And a few more facts about ticks - myths and realities
Is there tick insurance? So in Russia, some insurance companies practice such a service in their list as medical insurance against tick bites. If a person is bitten by a tick, the insurance company pays for a special serum, which is administered within 72 hours.
The tick is dangerous only in late spring - early summer. This is a somewhat erroneous misconception, since their period of activity begins in early April and lasts until mid-summer. Of course, at the end of May - the beginning of June there is a peak of bites, but one should not forget about the second wave of aggression of these parasites - it starts from mid-August to mid-October, when bites were recorded even in November and December - January months. So this statement does not have a strict time frame of activity in the nature of the tick. 
A tick bite can be seen with the naked eye - there is redness around it, increasing in size, the so-called erythema. This characteristic feature is not always relevant - in half the cases, a tick bite proceeds without such a characteristic redness. Yes, and the bite site will not hurt - the tick injects an anesthetic contained in saliva under the skin. And therefore, upon arrival home, it is worth taking off your clothes and carefully inspect your body, clothes for bites and take a shower, having washed things. So you protect yourself from many diseases that are transmitted by ticks - timely preventive measures can be an excellent solution to many problems.
Due to the fact that the subclass of ticks is very, very diverse, the question may arise - what determines their danger? For example, which ticks are more dangerous - large or small? When you find a large tick on a dog, cat, or your own skin, it is not surprising that you can be very frightened, thinking that the size of the tick implies the extent of the problems associated with it. But let's take it in order.
The world's largest ticks
When dealing with ticks, you need to understand that the danger to humans does not depend directly on size, it’s just that most types of microscopic mites are not blood-sucking and cause trouble mainly to plant crops. Ticks that bite humans and animals are macromites, and the fact that we are able to see them with the naked eye already makes them rather large representatives of their subclass. But not all large ticks are dangerous.
In general, among the largest types of ticks can be called:
- Argas mites
- ixodid
- Acariform
The first two species are exactly those who should be avoided, and those that a person most often associates with the word "tick" because of the possibility of transferring the most terrible diseases (Lyme disease, tick-borne typhus, encephalitis and many other viruses).
Argas mites can reach from 3 mm to 3 cm. Such variations are easily explained - the size of the tick directly depends on whether it has had time to get enough blood, so that the hungry ticks will be the smallest, and the largest after the bite, besides females. At such moments, the tick has a rounded shape, its abdomen is stretched, due to which it hardly looks like an arachnid, while in a hungry tick it is easy to see four pairs of long legs.
ixodid ticks- the largest. The largest tick in the world, recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, is a representative of this particular species - 3.6 cm. Their average is 3 cm, which in itself is not small. In the photo on the right is a female, and on the left is a male ixodid tick. If you notice a small tick on the body, it probably has not yet had time to stick to the skin.
Are small ticks dangerous?
The smallest mites belong to the order of the same acariform mites, they are also called "Acarins". They are rarely larger than 1 mm, and the smallest tick is only 0.08 mm long.
What a small tick looks like can only be seen under a microscope. In general, all mites look about the same, but micromites have a soft body.
1) Ticks carry a lot of different infections. The most famous of them are borreliosis and, of course, encephalitis. There is also rickettsiosis, babesiosis and many other nasty diseases. As soon as a small creature has bitten you, you are already infected. After all, all the pathogens of sores are in her saliva. Of course, not every tick carries some kind of disease. Just like not every person is a carrier of AIDS and similar venereal flowers. But there is always a risk of getting sick.
2) The most famous and terrible disease that a tick can reward you with is encephalitis. If you are a lucky person, then you will simply get scared, if you are moderately lucky, you will die. But most likely you will become a weak paralytic - usually the hands of the victims of encephalitis mites are taken away and this is not curable. You also have a chance to remain deaf or blind.
In our country, ticks are basically not contagious, and 2 out of a thousand people die from contact with them. But after all, no one guarantees that you will not be included in this two "lucky ones".
But in the Siberian regions and the Far East, everything is very, very sad. There, out of a hundred sick people, eight dozen go to the forefathers. Hospitals in Siberia are far away, and no one finances medicine in particular.
Also, problems with the heart muscle, hearing and eyes will begin. Also, your skin will become bluish in color and incredibly thin ... In short, the consequences are sad. Not as scary as we described in our article, but still, nothing good ...
6) Ticks do not jump on their victims, they usually crawl on them from grass and bushes - parasites do not live at high altitudes. Also, the diseases that you have contracted from them are not transmitted by airborne droplets. But a nursing mother can infect a child through milk. The worst thing for lovers of warm milk is that a lactating goat and cow can infect you in the same way if the milk is not boiled before drinking.
Ticks have a bad reputation. There are a number of facts in the life of these bloodsuckers that cause fear of these unusual creatures of nature.
Ruthless relatives
Ticks belong to a subclass of arthropods. The closest relatives of these creatures are spiders. From them, ticks inherited a ruthless and extremely aggressive character. When there is not enough food, they attack their fellows, rip open their belly and drink all the blood.
Bloodsuckers everywhere
In total, there are more than 50 thousand species of ticks on Earth. The smallest mites live right on your pillow. Here they thrive, eat well, multiply incessantly, and leave clouds of excrement behind them. These are the dust mites Dermatophagoides. The maximum size of a dust mite is 0.5 mm. This "beast" feeds on dead particles of the epidermis.
Dust mites and asthma
The dust mite lives for 3-4 months, producing during this time a whole army of offspring. The female lays 60 eggs at a time, which very quickly turn into adults. You can easily find over 6 million of these mites in your bed!
Dust mites leave behind faeces rich in Der f1 and Der p1 proteins. These are the most natural digestive enzymes that dissolve small particles of our flaky skin. Because of these proteins, such a severe allergic disease as bronchial asthma occurs. The disease is chronic. A complete cure is not possible.
Carefully! Tick-borne Encephalitis
One of the most dangerous are encephalitic mites. They live in wooded areas, but move well on the grass. The greatest threat is borne by the taiga tick, which belongs to the subspecies of Ixodes. He suffers encephalitis, borreliosis, rickettsiosis and a number of other serious illnesses. From many of them, a person can die if action is not taken in time. Thus, a person with encephalitis runs the risk of remaining paralyzed forever. It is necessary to carefully protect against ticks through vaccination and additional safety measures.
Fertile and bloodthirsty
Ixodid ticks breed at a fantastic rate. Females are able to grow up to 36 mm. Each one lays 20,000 eggs at a time!
Ticks are also known for their bloodlust. For example, at one time, a dog tick sucks out two hundred times more blood than it weighs itself. A bull tick and even more - ten thousand times.
Terribly tenacious
Ticks are adapted to any adverse conditions and are very tenacious. If scorpions are able to last two years without food, then ten years will not seem like a long time to ticks.
Thanks to the Haller's organ (a very important olfactory organ that serves to search for a host) donated by Mother Nature, the arthropod can easily detect the presence of a warm-blooded animal nearby. Ticks perfectly feel the slightest changes in humidity and ambient temperature.
Ticks sneak up on a person completely imperceptibly and inject an anesthetic when they bite to mask their presence on his body. Sometimes a tick can only be detected when it is already too late.
7 facts about ticks that are vital to know
1. Ticks do not climb trees, but jump out of the grass
A tick can crawl on you from grass or bushes, but not jump from a tree, because ticks cannot jump. Usually they do not rise above 1.5 m above the ground. The paws of insects are very tenacious, and the arachnids themselves are very small, so you won't even feel that someone is crawling over your body. Of course, tight-fitting clothing can help prevent contact with a tick, but you should not rely on this alone. Typically, ticks bite in the softest places on the body - the armpits, groin or area behind the ears. Therefore, walking through the forest, examine yourself and your friends more often.
Do not forget that the infection can be picked up not only directly with an insect bite. You can also get infected by drinking unboiled milk - ticks don't care who is in front of them, a person or an animal, so they bite cows with pleasure. Nursing mothers, by the way, should also beware, and until the terrible diagnosis is refuted, do not breastfeed the baby. But in another way, encephalitis is not transmitted from person to person, and you are not threatened with infection from friends.
2. Vaccination
Ideally, before you go to nature, you need to be vaccinated against the most common disease that ticks carry - encephalitis. True, they need to be done back in February, otherwise there is a risk that the vaccine will not work. Usually they give three injections with some interval, and so far the vaccination is the most effective means of protection. Please note that vaccination should be done every year.
3. Infections
In general, there are a lot of tick-borne infections, and encephalitis and borreliosis are the most serious and dangerous of them. However, there is also granulocytic anaplasmosis, monocytic ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis and others. The infection is transmitted to a person directly during a bite, along with saliva injected into the body. Of course, there are also so-called “clean” ticks, in whose saliva there are no infections, but there is no guarantee that the tick that bit you is not a carrier of the disease.
4. Encephalitis
Encephalitis is the worst disease transmitted by ticks. If you are lucky, you will get off with a fright, and if not, paralysis of both hands, complete blindness or deafness is possible. Keep in mind that these consequences are irreversible, unless, of course, some kind of universal treatment method is invented in the near future. But so far he's gone. In some cases, encephalitis leads to the death of the victim.
Worst of all, if the carrier of encephalitis has bitten you in Siberia or the Far East, since ticks in these parts carry a particularly severe form of the disease, and according to statistics, 80 of those bitten out of 100 die from it. In Europe, it is a little easier, only two out of 100 infected die, but And this is a reason to worry about your health, right?
By the way, if a person has already suffered encephalitis once, then he acquires lifelong immunity to it.
5. Borreliosis
The second dangerous disease is borreliosis. It is characterized by high fever and extensive redness at the site of the bite. With complications, paralysis of the facial muscles occurs, then the joints will begin to hurt, and in especially difficult cases, the pain can be so severe that it becomes impossible to move. There may be problems with hearing and vision, up to complete loss, or problems with the heart. The skin will become thin, dry and bluish in color.
And the worst thing is that there are no vaccinations against borreliosis. Immunity too - if you got sick once, you can get sick a second time. Fortunately, it is quite easy to cure at an early stage, but you should consult a doctor in time.
6. Removing the tick
If you are unlucky, and you still find a tick that has stuck into your body, then firstly, do not panic. Remember that in any critical situation, you must remain calm.
First, take out the tick. This must be done very carefully, best with tweezers, turning it counterclockwise. In no case do not pull the tick - it has already grabbed your flesh with its front paws, and if you pull hard, you will tear off its head, and it, along with the sting, will remain in the skin. Then you have to pick out the head with a needle, previously calcined in the flame of a lighter, like a splinter. If at least a sting remains, then it will be necessary to eventually cut it out with a scalpel. In the event that you don’t have tweezers with you, you can try to unscrew the insect using a thread loop.
They often talk about how to remove a tick with vegetable oil - supposedly the insect will start to suffocate and crawl out on its own. Doctors do not recommend doing this. The tick will really start to choke, but in this case it will release the maximum amount of saliva into your blood, since it will begin to feel very sick, and, as we remember, it is in saliva that pathogens are contained.
7. Proboscis and legs
After the tick is removed, we carefully examine it for the presence of all parts - the number of legs (the proboscis is indistinguishable from the leg) should be odd. If it is even, it means that the sting remains in the body, and it is necessary to urgently go to the emergency room to remove it, and at the same time give an injection. Remember that the injection will have to be done in any case, and try not to delay it.
Do not forget to place the extracted tick in a box in order to take it to the nearest laboratory for SES analysis.
10 days after the bite, you will need to donate blood for infections. You also need to do this anyway. Two weeks later - a second analysis, already immunoglobulins M for encephalitis, and after another one - for immunoglobulins M for borreliosis. Of course, a doctor should tell you about this, but it’s better to know about it yourself: whoever is warned is armed.
About ticks and encephalitis (15 photos + 2 videos)
Taiga tick - Ixodes persulcatus.
The range of the taiga tick in Russia is mainly within the middle and southern subzones of the taiga. In the west, it captures the Moscow, Leningrad regions, in the north - the southern regions of Karelia. In the Volga region, the southern border runs north of 53°N. sh. (Ulyanovsk region, Samara region north of the Samara river). The area enters Belarus, the Baltic states, covers the southeastern coast of Finland and some other regions of the north of Western Europe; in more southern areas this species is replaced by another species, Ixodes ricinus. To the east, the range of the taiga tick stretches to the coast of the Pacific Ocean, its main part is located between 50 and 60 ° N. latitude. sh. (along the valleys of the Ob and Lena it comes to the north, in the Far East - much to the south, to the southern border of Primorye and northeast China). Separate parts of the range cover the south of Kamchatka, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the south of Japan, and isolated parts of the mountain ranges of Central Asia.
Dog tick - Ixodes ricinus.
The distribution zones of the dog tick in central Russia coincide with the taiga "brother", and around the world the dog bloodsucker is found much more widely - throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere of the planet. It has another name - "European forest tick", although in Latin it is called the same - Ixodes ricinus. This suggests that the dog tick is rampant with might and main where there is vegetation. In recent years, there has been a steady migration of ticks closer to humans and their households. The dog bloodsucker, which previously traditionally fed on the blood of forest and steppe inhabitants such as foxes, wolves, jackals, can now be easily found in close proximity to people.
Both types of ticks are extremely rare (as an exception) can be found at altitudes of more than 1500 meters above sea level.
Reproduction and development
The life cycle of ixodid ticks consists of the following stages: an egg, from which a larva emerges, turning into a nymph, from which an imago is formed, growing into a sexually mature individual. The eggs of ixodid ticks are oval in shape, their dimensions are only 0.3-0.5 millimeters. The egg is protected by a hard shiny brownish shell. The larva has 3 pairs of limbs. The front of the body is covered with a shield. At this stage, ixodid ticks do not have a genital opening. The size of the larva depends on how much blood it sucked, it can vary from 0.5 to 1 millimeter. . In a hungry state can be up to 2 years. At the same time, they do not move to the next development cycle. Dies with a sharp or prolonged drop in temperature. But she is no longer afraid of low humidity. Under favorable conditions, after 4 weeks, the larva turns into a nymph.
The nymph is already more like an adult. Increases in size. The life cycle in this state lasts 1 month. The next bite becomes an impetus for further development. The nymph can eat in the same way as a full-fledged insect. The behavior is almost the same. After 4 weeks, the nymph turns into an imago.
An adult has a body, 4 pairs of limbs, a head and a proboscis. In males, the body is completely covered with scutes, while in females it is covered with scutes by a third. Breathing is carried out through the stigmata on the sides. On the abdomen, the tick has teeth with which they cling to the host's body.
The size of adults depends on the degree of saturation with blood. In hungry individuals, the body shape is oval, flattened, the size is about 6-8 millimeters. Color brown or yellow. After the tick gets drunk on blood, its body becomes rounded, and the length of the tick increases to 30 millimeters.
Danger of ticks for people
Encephalitic mites are the most dangerous. These ticks are carriers of encephalitis. This virus is transmitted through contact with an infected animal. The infection enters the blood of a person and causes the development of a serious illness. An equally dangerous disease that is spread by ixodid ticks is borreliosis. The disease can appear as early as a week after the bite. The main symptom of infection is a red ring around the bite and a light center.
After a bite, you need to carefully monitor your health. The longer the tick was on the body, the higher the risk that it could infect a person with a dangerous disease. If an inflammatory reaction occurs, body temperature rises, chills, rash and malaise occur, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Tick-borne encephalitis: SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
Tick-borne encephalitis is classified as a natural focal disease that occurs in certain areas. The carriers of the pathogen are wild animals, in this case the encephalitic tick. The main foci of tick-borne pathology are Siberia and the Far East, the Urals, the Kaliningrad region, Mongolia, China, some areas of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Eastern Europe. Every year about 5-6 thousand cases of encephalitic tick infection are registered in our country. The severity of the course and the form depend on the immunity of the bitten person, the amount of the virus in the body, the number of bites, and also on the geographic location. Specialists divide the encephalitic tick virus into 3 subspecies: Far Eastern, Siberian and Western. The most severe forms of the disease - after the attack of ticks in the Far East, 20-40% of death. If an encephalitic tick attack occurred in the European part of Russia, the chances of avoiding complications are much higher - the lethality here is only 1-3%.
Symptoms after an encephalitic tick attack are very diverse, but in each patient the period of the disease traditionally proceeds with several pronounced signs. In accordance with this, 5 main forms of tick-borne encephalitis are distinguished. Feverish, or erased (the most successful prognosis with treatment).
- Meningeal (diagnosed most often).
- Meningoencephalitic (occurs in 15% of the country as a whole, in the Far East 2 times more often).
- Poliomyelitis (diagnosed in a third of those affected by encephalitis ticks).
- Polyradiculoneuritis. A special form of tick-borne infection - with a two-wave course.
The first period of the disease is characterized by febrile symptoms and lasts 3-7 days. Then the virus penetrates the meninges, neurological signs appear. The second period lasts about two weeks and is much more severe than the febrile phase.
When making a diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis, it is necessary to take into account a combination of three factors: clinical manifestations (symptoms), epidemiological data (time of year, whether the vaccine was given, whether there was a tick bite) and laboratory tests (analysis of the tick itself - optional, blood test, test cerebrospinal fluid, etc.).
The first thing to do if a tick attacked is to examine the sore spot. The bite of an infected insect is just a red, inflamed wound, and the encephalitic tick itself looks like a normal one. Therefore, in any case, emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is needed - to introduce immunoglobulin against the virus, and then do an analysis.
Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is carried out in two directions: vaccination (specific prophylaxis against tick-borne encephalitis) and preventive measures (non-specific). Emergency prophylaxis against the encephalitic tick virus is an immunoglobulin that is administered within 3 days after the bite. Immunoglobulin is also administered to unvaccinated individuals in dangerous (endemic) areas. The protective effect lasts about 4 weeks, if the danger persists, immunoglobulin can be re-administered.
Tick control
With the onset of the tick season, the issue of treating forests from ticks is raised. It is widely believed that the number of ticks has increased due to the fact that forests have ceased to be processed from ticks. But, mass treatment with acaricides can do more harm than good. Now there are no drugs that selectively kill only ticks. Previously used DDT has a long decay time and can accumulate in the soil. Many organophosphate insecticides are toxic to humans. It is best to use pyrethroids to control ticks. They have low toxicity to humans and most animals, are effective in killing mites, and disintegrate quickly. All this is done with repellents, acaricides, preparations chosen for treating the territory from ticks.
When leaving for the country, I want to relax calmly, and not walk around in an anti-encephalitis suit. It is in the power of everyone to significantly reduce the number of ticks in their area. For this you need:
- Regularly mow lawns, remove plant debris, rake fallen leaves. There should be no littered places on the site. Around the site it is necessary to make a barrier in the form of a strip of gravel or sawdust with a width of at least a meter.
- Fight mice - rodents are the main host of ixodid tick larvae, in addition, ticks receive the tick-borne encephalitis virus from them.
To do this, you need to reduce the number of shelters. Do not leave leftover food on the site. Use traps and poisoned baits. (Poisoned baits and traps must be used carefully in accordance with the instructions. Be aware of their potential danger to children and animals).
Conclusion
It's amazing how much trouble one little creature can bring to people and animals. Take care of yourself and your loved ones!