Tick prevalence in the UK
- Thread starter mikem
- Start date
aricooperdavis
Moderator
My GP was excellent and mentioned that you could send off the tick for testing to support national epidemiological efforts, although it won't help diagnostically. Details 
bagpuss
Active member
Fjell said:
I didn't think you needed to unless you had symptoms, either the rash or flu like symptoms. I removed a tick recently and didn't seek further treatment. I've since removed a couple more, one from my hand before it latched on and other which was crawling over my phone screen! They seem to be more prevalent this year.
SamT
Moderator
Thought this was worthy of its own thread.
Only place I've ever had ticks in the Lake District, and when I'm out and about there now, I take extra care and check myself ALL over when I get back.
However, they're now present in the Peak, no doubt thanks to the increased range of the deer from Chatsworth.
I've heard of recent bites from Wyming Brook, Blackamoor and Burbage South.
Always worth checking yourself if you've been hacking across any heather area.
Lymes disease is really not something you want to catch. I have two friends who's whole lives have been turned upside down after suffering badly from it.
Good advise on this site - https://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/
And definitely worth sending your ticks off for testing at the link mentioned above. Will help the scientists spot areas where Lymes is becoming prevalent.
Only place I've ever had ticks in the Lake District, and when I'm out and about there now, I take extra care and check myself ALL over when I get back.
However, they're now present in the Peak, no doubt thanks to the increased range of the deer from Chatsworth.
I've heard of recent bites from Wyming Brook, Blackamoor and Burbage South.
Always worth checking yourself if you've been hacking across any heather area.
Lymes disease is really not something you want to catch. I have two friends who's whole lives have been turned upside down after suffering badly from it.
Good advise on this site - https://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/
And definitely worth sending your ticks off for testing at the link mentioned above. Will help the scientists spot areas where Lymes is becoming prevalent.
PeteHall
Moderator
We used to get ticks all the time as kids, living on the edge of the Quantock hills, so I've never really paid them much attention. Perhaps I should...
Tend to get the odd tick walking on Mendip over the summer, but so far nothing worse than a slight itch from the little blood-sucking bastards.
Tend to get the odd tick walking on Mendip over the summer, but so far nothing worse than a slight itch from the little blood-sucking bastards.
Speleotron
Member
They are everywhere. I've had them on me or a dog (not my dog, used to do a lot of dog sitting) in Huddersfield, Nidderdale and a park in York.
aricooperdavis
Moderator
Fjell said:
I don't think so - I got an itchy raised red swelling around it that was only getting worse after a couple of days which worried the GP, but otherwise I don't think she'd have bothered.
My wife and I collected at least half a dozen on a 3 hour walk on Dartmoor last July. Scotland is terrible, I've got to the point when sea kayak wild camping that I wear a pair of sealskin socks sewn into the hem of a pair of walking trousers to change into in camp. I use a white nylon footprint to the tent with a large hem so I can see and catch them before they get to the entrance door. They are plentiful on the skerries in Arisaig and there are no deer or sheep on them. Stanage is also bad.
Speleotron
Member
It's got so much worse in the last few years. As a kid I used to go through the bracken in shorts in Cumbria and I would check for ticks and never find them. Now I see them in urban parks. In certain parts of the scottish isles you can't sit down on the ground without them getting you in a few minutes. The explosion of deer numbers in scotland hasn't helped but I'm amazed that they're in english town centre parks.
aardgoose
Member
I had suspected Lymes after a visit to Scotland a few years ago. Had the classic bulls eye, itchy rash on my ankle. My GP had one of her colleagues in to look, thought it educational. A course of doxycycline sorted it.
My poor dog has had loads in the Lakes, we caught one crawling across his fur in the pub. Worst of all, he got a tick on his scrotum the week after its contents were removed. That required careful treatment!
My poor dog has had loads in the Lakes, we caught one crawling across his fur in the pub. Worst of all, he got a tick on his scrotum the week after its contents were removed. That required careful treatment!
Kenilworth
New member
The tick population in Appalachia has exploded over the last ten years. Most of my walks in the woods involve getting into hundreds of larval ticks, which isn't a concern as far as disease is concerned, but the bites are still irritating.
If the statistics on juvenile/adult ticks and Lyme were accurate, I should have had it my now, having been bit hundreds of times. So far I have not suffered anything more than an itch. I don't know if it's widely available in the UK, but animal pesticides containing high percentages of Permethrin can be diluted and used to treat clothing. Unlike Deet based repellents, which ticks happily crawl over, Permethrin will kill. There is some need to be cautious with it so I won't recommend any specific usage.
If the statistics on juvenile/adult ticks and Lyme were accurate, I should have had it my now, having been bit hundreds of times. So far I have not suffered anything more than an itch. I don't know if it's widely available in the UK, but animal pesticides containing high percentages of Permethrin can be diluted and used to treat clothing. Unlike Deet based repellents, which ticks happily crawl over, Permethrin will kill. There is some need to be cautious with it so I won't recommend any specific usage.
This seems like a good place to mention that after getting a bullseye rash from a tick bite (in Leeds!) I found out the hard way that tetracycline antibiotics, such as doxycycline, really can make you super sensitive to the sun. My GP played down the side effects ("You might find you're a bit more sensitive to the sun") and I read the information sheet and promptly ignored what it said. I then went on a two day walk on a warm, bright weekend. Half way into the first day I asked my companions if anyone else was feeling strangely wind-burned, and they all said no and looked bemused. I ended up feeling like I was getting sunburned from the inside out (which, effectively, I was), especially under my fingernails. It felt like I had hit my thumbs with a hammer.
I think different people react differently, but it's worth bearing in mind. I don't mean to patronise, and probably other people pay more attention to side effects leaflet, but I really wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else, and if I had that antibiotic again I would wear lots of suncream
I think different people react differently, but it's worth bearing in mind. I don't mean to patronise, and probably other people pay more attention to side effects leaflet, but I really wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else, and if I had that antibiotic again I would wear lots of suncream
crickleymal
New member
My youngest son had a tick on him in Cornwall and few years ago. In a caravan sites with very few dogs and no sheep in the surrounding fields.
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