Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases

T are blood-feeding parasites that can significantly impact the quality of life and health of humans and pets. Most importantly, some species of ticks may infect the host with any of several different diseases, which can result in mild to serious illness or death. Proper protection from ticks and prompt removal are crucial to preventing infection. Three tick species in Ohio are medically important because they are disease vectors: the American dog tick, the blacklegged tick (commonly called the deer tick), and the lone star tick. The brown dog tick, although uncommon, is the only tick that can become established indoors in homes with dogs and kennels. This fact sheet provides information on these four species. Other tick species are rarely encountered in Ohio. Many of the species in Ohio, including the three of medical importance and the brown dog tick, are hard ticks. They are called hard ticks because they possess a scutum (hard plate) on their upper surface just behind the mouthparts (see Figure 1). The scutum covers almost the entire upper surface of the adult male whereas it covers only the front portion of the female. Soft ticks lack a scutum. In Ohio, soft ticks are not pests of humans. Life Cycle and Habits Ticks have a life cycle that includes the egg and three stages: six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, and eight-legged adult. Adult ticks often have distinct characteristics and markings, but immature stages (larvae and nymphs) are entirely tan or brown and difficult to identify to species. All stages are round to oval shaped. Ticks must consume blood at every stage to develop. Most species feed on a different type of host during the adult stage, with larvae and nymphs preferring FACT SHEET Entomology