Tick Disease Alert - STARI (move, cheap, work)

[Robyn55]

I mentioned my tick bite in another thread. I developed a classic sign of Lyme disease today - a red raised circle near the bite. Did a little research (before going to my family doc). Lyme disease pretty much doesn't exist in Florida - but we do have a disease called STARI (Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness). It's similar to Lyme disease - but normally not as bad - and carried by different ticks. Anyway - the protocol for both diseases at the beginning is a 2 week course of a cheap antibiotic. Then you do blood work to rule out Lyme disease (there is no blood test to find out if you have STARI).

I guess the most important things are to try to remove the tick properly (not sure I did that) - and to save it (I thought I did that - but - thinking it was dead - I wrapped it in a tissue - and it disappeared - guess it wasn't so dead and walked away ). And to go to a doctor if you're bitten (whether or not you wind up with a red raised circle).

Note that we don't have dogs or cats - but I'd be really careful about letting them outside if I had them (because the ticks that cause STARI really love both animals and people and aren't shy about jumping from animals to people). Robyn

[BlueWillowPlate]

Thanks for the headsup, and I am sorry about your tick bite.
My husband pulled several ticks off one of our dogs last night.

[Robyn55]

Apparently ticks come in many different flavors. One tick carries Lyme disease - another carries STARI - etc. You might put those ticks in a jar - look at them with a magnifying glass - and try to figure out what kind(s) of ticks they are. Robyn