With warmer weather now here, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are reminding people to take precautions to prevent tick bites, mosquito bites, and animal bites when outdoors.
"Enjoying nature and being physically active outside are some of the best things you can do for your health," said Director of Health Jerry Larkin, MD. "While you are doing that, you can take some simple steps to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy and safe."
"We all love spending time outdoors and making the most of everything Rhode Island has to offer during the summer," said DEM Director Terry Gray. "Whether you're hiking at Lincoln Woods or relaxing on one of our world-renowned beaches, it's essential to follow our tick and mosquito prevention guidelines to stay safe and healthy."
Tick and mosquito bite prevention
Repel Prevent tick bites by:
--Using repellents that contain 20 to 30% DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) on exposed skin and clothing for protection that lasts up to several hours. This will repel both ticks and mosquitoes. Always follow product instructions. Parents can apply this product to their children, avoiding hands, eyes, and mouth. DEET containing insect repellants are not recommended for use on infants under 2 months old. You can also find other EPA-approved insect repellents at https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-repellent-right-you. --Avoiding wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaves to avoid tick bites. If you are going to be in a wooded area, walk in the center of the trail to avoid contact with overgrown grass, brush, and leaves at the edges of the trail. You can also spray your clothes and shoes with permethrin to keep ticks away. Make sure to not spray this on your skin. --Wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts when outside. --Tucking your pants into your socks so ticks do not crawl under your clothes. --Wearing light-colored clothing so you can see ticks more easily.
Check Check yourself, your children, and pets, for ticks by:
--Taking a shower as soon as you come inside if you have been in grassy or wooded areas. --Doing a full-body tick check using a mirror; parents should check their kids for ticks and pay special attention to the area in and around the ears, in the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and in their hair. --Checking your pets for ticks as well because they can bring ticks into the home.
Remove Remove ticks from your body, as well as from children and pets, if you find them.
--Use a set of tweezers to remove the tick. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight up. --If you don't have tweezers or a tick removal spoon, use your fingers with a tissue or rubber gloves.
Most people who get Lyme disease get a rash anywhere on their body, though it may not appear right away. At first, the rash looks like a red circle, but as the circle gets bigger, the middle changes color and seems to clear, so the rash looks like a target bull's-eye.
Some people don't get a rash but feel sick, with headaches, fever, body aches, and fatigue. Over time, they could have swelling and pain in their joints and a stiff, sore neck; or they could develop shooting pains, numbness, or tingling in the hands or feet, or facial drooping from nerve palsy. Some people may experience heart problems. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics.
Learn more about tickborne diseases at https://health.ri.gov/ticks.
Animal bites and rabies prevention
Rabies is a serious, fatal disease that is most often transmitted to humans through a bite or scratch from an infected animal. People can be exposed to the rabies virus when the saliva or central nervous system tissue of an infected animal comes into contact with an open wound or a mucous membrane, such as the eyes, nose, or mouth. A less common way to be exposed to rabies is for a pet owner to touch saliva from a high-risk animal which has been deposited in a wound or the muzzle of the pet, resulting from an encounter between the pet and a wild animal.
Prevention
--Make sure your dog or cat is vaccinated against rabies. --Avoid contact with wildlife and stray animals. --Wear gloves to tend to pets with wounds of unknown origin, or immediately after encounters have occurred between the pet and either stray animals or wildlife. --Make sure garbage is contained in a trash can with a secure lid to prevent attracting animals. --Take steps to keep bats out of your home (info here https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/prevention/bats.html)
If you are bitten or scratched by an animal, or you wake up to a bat in your house:
--Wash all wounds and the area around the wound thoroughly with soap and water. (Washing for 5-10 minutes can destroy as much as 90% of the rabies virus.) --Contact your doctor or hospital emergency department. --Call RIDOH at 401-222-2577 and contact the animal control officer at your police department to report the incident. Provide the authorities with an accurate description of the animal (including distinctive markings, not just color and breed). --Capture and isolate the animal if possible, but do not risk further injury to yourself or a pet if the animal is dangerous. For a bat, do not touch the bat, but try to secure it in a clear container with a lid. Keep children away from all animals involved.
If your pet is bitten or scratched by another animal:
--Try to find out what type of animal bit or scratched your pet. Do not touch the attacking animal. --Wear rubber gloves and a hose to wash your pet's wounds. Do not touch your pet with bare hands. There may be saliva from the rabid animal still on your pet. --Call your pet's veterinarian immediately, even if the wound is superficial. --Call the animal control officer at your police department and RIDOH at 401-222-2577.
Learn more about rabies and animal bites at https://health.ri.gov/rabies.
Data This year, RIDOH has launched a new animal bites data dashboard. The dashboard includes information on reported animal bites in Rhode Island by year, counts for the administration of rabies vaccine by year, and the types of animals involved in biting incidents, among other data. The data can also be viewed by county, city, and town. Around 2,500 animal bites are reported in Rhode Island annually. The animals involved include dogs, cats, bats, rodents, and raccoons.
The launch of this animal bites dashboard comes a year after RIDOH developed an interactive dashboard with data on several tickborne diseases, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis, broken down by demographics and geography. The dashboard makes data available by case counts and case rates by year, sex, county, city, and town.
In 2023, Rhode Island had 2,852 cases of Lyme disease, with Washington County continuing to have the highest rate of Lyme disease in the state. Anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, and babesiosis are among the other tickborne diseases found in Rhode Island.
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