Tick Bite Fever

BRICKBURN

Super moderator
Contributor
Lifetime titanium benefactor
AH ambassador
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
24,992
Reaction score
24,695
Location
Canada
Media
419
Articles
27
Hunting reports
Africa
8
USA/Canada
2
Europe
1
Hunted
Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Canada, USA, Mexico, England
With the recent good rains you can bet that the TICKS are thriving in any area that got moisture. I have not a doubt that there are people suffering right now.

Do the preventive steps on your trip. You don't need this disease on your trip or on the way home.




Alerts
The Outbreak Response Unit of the NICD provides support to all provinces for outbreaks of epidemic infectious diseases.
For more information contact the unit on +27 (11) 386 0545.


Tick Bite Fever Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What causes tick bite fever?
Tick bite fever is caused by tiny bacterial organisms called rickettsias. They are responsible for a group of diseases called ‘spotted fevers’ that occur in many parts of the world. Wild and domestic animals are also infected, and act as sources of these diseases.

How does a person get tick bite fever?
As the name suggests, through the bite of an infected tick. Ticks get the infection from feeding on animals and/or are born with it. So even the tiny baby ticks, sometimes called ‘pepper ticks’ because they are so small, can transmit the infection. Because they are difficult to see and often go unnoticed, very small ticks are most often responsible for transmitting tick bite fever. Very rarely, people who remove ticks from their dogs and crush them, can get a splash of blood in the eye or mouth, and be infected that way.

Where do people get tick bite fever?
There are 2 types of tick bite fever. Both occur throughout sub-Saharan Africa. One type (called ‘Mediterranean spotted fever-like’ or MSF-like) is transmitted by dog ticks, often in urban or peri-urban areas, and is sometimes responsible for severe illness. The other type (‘African tick bite fever’ or ATBF), is transmitted by cattle and game ticks in rural farming and game reserve areas, and is usually a milder infection. Visitors who walk or camp in the bush are therefore at high risk for getting tick bite fever, and for farmers, vets, hunters, fishermen, soldiers, wildlife researchers etc., it may be an occupational hazard. Depending on where they are visiting or working, people at risk for tick bite fever may be also be exposed to other infections, such as malaria, mosquito-borne virus infections, sleeping sickness, bilharzia, typhoid fever, Congo fever, etc.

What are the symptoms and signs of tick bite fever?
People usually get sick 5 to 7 days after being bitten by an infected tick. Headache, which is often severe, fever, and body pains, are early symptoms. Nightmares are said to be common. The patient may notice a small dark brown or black scab, surrounded by obvious inflammation, on the skin. This is called an ‘eschar’, and is where the infected tick attached – it is a classical sign of tick bite fever. There may be more than one eschar, but they can be anywhere on the body and can be hidden in the hair, between toes, in skin folds, etc., and may go unnoticed unless looked for. Eschars are quite often not recognised, or misdiagnosed as spider or other arthropod bites. The lymph glands draining the bitten limb may be swollen and painful. A skin rash may appear, but this does not always happen, or there may be just a few red spots or small blisters, which may not be noticed. At the other extreme, the rash may be extensive and/or involve the palms and soles, another classical feature of tick bite fever. In very severe or neglected cases the patient may develop a haemorrhagic state and start bleeding into the skin or from injection sites. In this case the clinical picture can resemble Congo fever, or other viral haemorrhagic fevers, or other serious conditions that may need to be considered, as mentioned previously.

How is tick bite fever diagnosed?
There is usually a history of possible exposure, e.g. walking or camping, in the bush, a farm visit etc., or the finding of a tick on the skin. Tick bite fever is usually diagnosed clinically by the presence of the eschar, accompanied by one or more symptoms like fever, headache, rash, or painful lymph nodes. Laboratory tests are not useful in the acute stage to make the diagnosis, although antibody tests can be used to confirm the diagnosis a week or two later. In very ill patients, laboratory tests to exclude other infections and to assess and monitor the patient’s condition, will be required.

How is tick bite fever treated?
Doxycycline is the drug of choice and is very effective, although it may take a day or two for the patient to feel better. Other antibiotics used in general practice for common infections that present with fever are much less effective, or totally ineffective, hence the importance of recognising the condition. In very ill patients, doxycycline can be life-saving and is never withheld. In mild cases, certain other antibiotics may be sufficient.

Is it true that treatment stops you getting immune to another attack of tick bite fever, and so you should not get treated?
Early treatment can reduce the immune response. However, even uncomplicated tick bite fever is an unpleasant disease, and also has the potential, especially in the very young or old, and in pregnancy, to cause severe or even fatal infection; every year several people in South Africa die unnecessarily from tick bite fever. Therefore, we recommend that all cases get effective treatment.

How can I prevent myself and my children from getting tick bite fever?
Mosquito repellents that contain a chemical called DEET, like Tabard, Peaceful Sleep, and Mylol, will repel ticks as well, but they need to be re-applied every few hours. Other products, e.g. herbal or homoeopathic remedies or citronella oil, are not effective. Clothes that are impregnated with permethrin insecticide will also work to some extent. However, none of these can be completely relied upon. It is important to inspect yourself and your loved ones for ticks, which can be tiny, as mentioned earlier. Swimming or bathing/showering time is a good opportunity for a ‘tick parade’ and full body searches. Dogs should also be protected by appropriate veterinary products, inspected regularly, and deticked if necessary. Do not crush such ticks between your nails, as their contents might be infective, as explained above. Ticks need to be attached for a while to transmit the rickettsias, so if they are found and removed promptly, the risk of getting tick bite fever is much reduced. To remove a tick, grip it as near to the skin as possible, if necessary using a pair of forceps, and try to ensure that the mouthparts, which are anchored firmly in the skin, are removed. Applying lit cigarettes or chemicals to the tick is not effective and may injure the skin.

Can I take doxycycline or other antibiotics prophylactically to prevent tick bite fever?
This is controversial, as in theory it could work. Some believe that it may not prevent infection, but just suppresses it until you stop taking the antibiotic. No controlled clinical trials have been done, and it is not recommended routinely. However, doxycycline is one of the antimicrobials used for malaria prevention in adults, so prevention of tick bite fever may be a useful side effect.

Does tick bite fever cause persistent infections and lead to ME or chronic fatigue syndrome?
There is no credible scientific evidence that this happens, nor that prolonged courses of antibiotic treatment for rickettsial infections are effective in treating ME. In fact, such courses unnecessarily expose patients to unhealthy side effects of antibiotics.


http://www.nhls.ac.za/?page=alerts&id=5&rid=468
 

Attachments

  • nhls_logo.jpg
    nhls_logo.jpg
    25.2 KB · Views: 219
Last edited:
Thanks Brick!
 
I'm gonna make sure my boots have a good coating of permethrin before I head out and then apply the DEET!
 
5 bites made me about as sick as I have ever been. Heed his warnings. You will regret it if you ever get it.
 
741DC367-0DDE-4F6F-A425-69E8ACEB50FD-3485-000002D50676CF8E.jpeg


I was thinking the stuff they use for horses! We spray it around our chickens and it works great. But it's harder to travel with, so maybe I'll spray my boots with this and then get the stuff you posted for using in SA
 
When is the best time to hunt Africa without worrying about ticks?
 
View attachment 177117

I was thinking the stuff they use for horses! We spray it around our chickens and it works great. But it's harder to travel with, so maybe I'll spray my boots with this and then get the stuff you posted for using in SA

I would just douse my boot and clothing with a diluted solution of Permethrin while I was still home and go, and not worry about taking any with me. I bought a bottle of it at WallMart to treat my clothes and it lasted the whole trip, that was before I knew that you could buy it full strength at a farm store.

After seeing how well it works I now use it all the time here in the US on my hunting and hiking clothes.

When is the best time to hunt Africa without worrying about ticks?
When there is snow on the ground.
 
View attachment 177117

I was thinking the stuff they use for horses! We spray it around our chickens and it works great. But it's harder to travel with, so maybe I'll spray my boots with this and then get the stuff you posted for using in SA

Yup illegal in Canada for human clothing but I buy the horsey stuff (amazon), cut it 20:1 (old two stroke mix for those of us old enough to remember) and spray away. One treatment lasts a month or 4 washings. One bottle is enough to last a lifetime. Spray socks, pants and shirts. Deet isn't necessary and the treated clothing kills off what you may have inadvertently packed in your luggage. I'm an old Health Canada chemistry type and have no idea why we ban this stuff
 
Last edited:
Thanks for sharing!
 
I would just douse my boot and clothing with a diluted solution of Permethrin while I was still home and go, and not worry about taking any with me. I bought a bottle of it at WallMart to treat my clothes and it lasted the whole trip, that was before I knew that you could buy it full strength at a farm store.

After seeing how well it works I now use it all the time here in the US on my hunting and hiking clothes.


When there is snow on the ground.
I don't want to hunt on the top of Kiliminjaro
 
If you don't want a gallon of it just pick up a bottle of Permethrin at WallMart and treat your clothes and boots. You can find it in the camping area.

On my safari our outfitter warned us that we were going into a tick infested area so I used some Deet on my skin but had the Permethrin on my clothes, I came back to the lodge with zero ticks along with another hunter that did the same thing. The next day another hunter went into the same area and he came back with small ticks all over him. A few days later when I was after a kudu I sat down to do some glassing and didn't notice that my feet were in a ant bed. My boots were covered with ants but that is as far as they went. If I make it back I'll treat my boot also.
 
When is the best time to hunt Africa without worrying about ticks?

July and August. However, I have walked through tall green grass by standing water and come out absolutely moving/crawling with baby Ticks. A few quick sprays of god knows what it was and they fell off dead.
No more walking in that tall green grass for me.

I got TBF from one bite from a free loader that got me on the ankle at days end in the lodge. Trip to the doc, antibiotics and pain killers a few days later after symptoms started. Just much better to never get it.
 
Ticks are a problem for sure, I will be doing a skin check daily!
 
I knew the ticks could be pretty bad at times, I didn't know that a person could get so sick from a bite.
 
Many years ago I was up in Montana for the summer. Took a dude along on a hike, going high up into a drainage looking for Elk/Sign for the upcoming Archery hunt. The guy was pulling his shorts down every 20 minutes looking for ticks. He seemed kind of freaked out about it.
 
Good info BRICKBURN,
Been there done that. Had tickbite fever in Limpopo from pepper ticks. Not a lot of fun, sure sign is the red welts with a white pussy center that itch like hell followed by the severe headache, now I know what a migraine feels like.
Thought it was the South African scotch I was drinking:eek:.
Oh yeah had some pretty strange dreams as well.
Take precautions like long pants treated with permethrin, spray your boots as well.
 
Picked up a case myself in '08, diagnosed myself but got doxy into my system within 24 hrs of onset of symptoms. Was a bit like the flu, but back to normal within 72 hrs.
Was at a Trauma, Critical Care conference this past week and met a doc from RSA, he'd seen a case in their ICU that had been baffling them for about 2 weeks before they realized it was tick bite fever.
Take home messages:
1. Prevention is best
2. Early diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference
3. It can make you really SICK if #'s 1&2 aren't followed.
 
July and August. However, I have walked through tall green grass by standing water and come out absolutely moving/crawling with baby Ticks. A few quick sprays of god knows what it was and they fell off dead.
No more walking in that tall green grass for me.

I got TBF from one bite from a free loader that got me on the ankle at days end in the lodge. Trip to the doc, antibiotics and pain killers a few days later after symptoms started. Just much better to never get it.

If the spray they used was locally obtained I'd bet it is pyrethroid. AKA raid.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,613
Messages
1,131,104
Members
92,662
Latest member
andresonjames29
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
Living life like a lion for 1 day is better than living life like a jackal for 100 years.
 
Top