Fleas and ticks can hide in your yard.
Fleas and ticks not only bother animals, but can affect humans, as well. Fleas are a nuisance and their bites are often quite menacing. Ticks, however, can spread harmful diseases that can prove to be devastating.
Cause
If you have a pet that has fleas or ticks and are experiencing them yourself, it’s a safe bet you contracted them from your furry friend. However, humans don’t always obtain fleas and ticks from their pets. Simply walking outdoors exposes you to the pests. Fleas can jump on your clothes and shoes and stay with you until you bring them home, where they then lay eggs and create a habitat. Ticks hide in grasses and trees and can crawl on you without being detected.
Symptoms
Fleas are often too fast to see on your body, but ticks, however, are hard to miss. Ticks like to hide in hidden areas, such as armpits, leg creases and areas that are covered in hair. According to the Flea Control Guide website, flea bites are small, red raised bumps that are often itchy and aggravating. Tick bites can look the same and can also cause a bull’s eye appearance, in which a circle forms around the bite.
Potential Health Problems
Ticks can carry a variety of illnesses that affect people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ticks can carry and spread the diseases erlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme, babesiosis, tularemia, southern yick-associated rash illness and tick-borne relapsing fever. In addition, ticks can also spread anaplasmosis, Powassan encephalitis and Colorado tick fever.
Along with the irritating bites, fleas can also spread disease. Humans can catch typhus from flea bites, states the Flea Control Guide website. If a flea bites a person that has typhus, it can give the disease to someone else through its next bite.
Treatment
Treating fleas in your home typically involves sprays and foggers. You can also enlist the help of an exterminator. If you have pets, you must treat them, as well. Treat your home or outdoor environment with acaricide to treat ticks, suggests the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prevention
Treat your outdoor environment with a chemical control agent to kill any fleas or ticks that may be present. In addition, apply flea and tick preventative to your pets to reduce their chances of bringing them inside your home. Wear bug repellent that contains Deet to prevent ticks and tuck your pants into your socks so that the ticks cannot crawl up your leg.
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