Tick Tape™

Tick Tape™ is a patented folding tick removal tool. When Tick Tape™ is closed around an attached tick, its adhesive-coated foam construction securely grips the tick for easy removal and preservation or disposal.

Benefits: Typical instructions for removing an attached tick call for using tweezers while “being careful not to squeeze the tick.” But anyone who has used tweezers to remove a well-attached tick knows that it isn’t possible to grip the tick firmly enough with tweezers without squeezing it. Tick Tape™ has two features to address this issue. First, the adhesive improves the friction between the surface of the Tick Tape™ and the tick itself, and second the foam limits excessive pressure on the tick which can cause damage to the tick and potentially impede the removal.

Osage Wildlife Products, LC
P.O. Box 30092 Kansas City, MO 64112
1.888.253.6729

Questions, comments and/or ideas:
info@osageoutdoors.com

Important information on Lyme Disease:

What is Lyme disease?

An inflammatory disease caused by a spirochete (a spiral-shaped motile bacteria being pathogenic to humans and other animals, also a parasite) that is transmitted by ticks usually characterized initially by a rash followed by flu like symptoms including fever, joint pain, and headache. If left untreated, the disease can result in chronic arthritis and nerve and heart dysfunction.

(American Heritage Dictionary, 2000)

How is Lyme disease Transmitted?

Lyme disease is transmitted among animals, and to humans, through the bites of certain species of ticks. When a young tick feeds on an infected animal, the tick takes the bacterium into its body along with the blood meal. The bacterium then lives in the tick. If the tick feeds again, it can transmit the bacterium to its new host. Most cases of human illness occur in late spring and summer when the nymphs are the most active and human outdoor activity is at its peak.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006)

Symptoms of Lyme disease

Lyme disease can infect different parts of the body, producing different symptoms at different times, and not everyone will have the same symptoms. It is important that you consult your physician for proper diagnosis if you think you may have Lyme disease.

The first sign of infection is usually a circular rash called erythema migrans or EM. The rash begins at the site of the tick bite anywhere from 3-30 days after the bite, and occurs in 70-80% of cases. A distinguishing feature of the rash is that it expands as time passes and can reach diameters of 12 inches. As well, the center of the circle may begin to clear up as it enlarges, making the site resemble a bull’s eye. The rash is usually not very painful, but may be warm to the touch. Along with the rash patients may experience symptoms of fatigue, chills, fever, headache, and muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes.

If the infection is left untreated for a few days or weeks, it may spread to other parts of the body, producing a variety of discrete symptoms. The symptoms include loss of muscle tone on one or both sides of the face (Bell’s palsy), severe headaches and neck stiffness caused by meningitis, shooting pains that may interfere with sleep, heart palpitations and dizziness due to changes in heartbeat, and pain that moves from joint to joint.

Almost 60% of untreated patients will begin having intermittent bouts of arthritis, with severe joint pain and swelling after several months. Large joints are often more effected, particularly the knee joints. A small percentage of untreated patients may develop chronic neurological complaints months or years later, including shooting pains, numbness in the hands and/or feet, and problems with concentration or short term memory loss.

The majority of cases can be cured with antibiotics, especially if treatment is begun early in the course of the illness. However, there is a very small percentage of patients that may have an autoimmune response, causing the immune system to respond even after the infection has been cleared. This includes muscle and joint pain, arthritis, cognitive defects, sleep disturbances, or fatigue.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006)

Treatment of Lyme disease

The National Institute of Health has funded many studies that have shown that most patients can be cured with a few weeks of oral antibiotics. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of Lyme disease may require intravenous treatment. Patients treated in the early stages of the disease usually recover rapidly and completely. A few patients, particularly those diagnosed in the later stages of the disease, may have persistent or recurrent symptoms.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006)

For more information on Lyme disease please visit these web sites:
www.lyme.org
www.kidshealth.org
www.cdc.gov