Every year in the summer, tick bites are talked about again. These skin parasites drink the blood of animals for food, and can transmit Lyme disease and other pathologies. Find out how ticks are rife and why the tick bite is so dreaded!
The tick , incorrectly named “wood lice feeds on blood by parasitizing many animals (its hosts are mainly mammals and birds). In scientific jargon, this mite is said to be hematophagous. Of the 41 tick species counted in France, Ixodes ricinus is the most common tick species.
Have you ever observed a tick with the naked eye? Without noticing it, one could assimilate it to a small spider. We essentially distinguish:
Among the mouthparts, there are two chelicerae, kinds of hooks capable of cutting the skin of the host, as well as a toothed harpoon (called hypostome) which allows the tick to anchor itself durably in the skin of the host. . We can talk about bite or tick bite .
A tick lives about 2 to 3 years and goes through 4 stages of development:
Please note that this rule is not absolute:humans can be bitten by a tick at all stages of development!
At each stage of its development, the tick needs to take a blood meal from 2 to 5 days. It bites (or stings) its animal host by pushing its rostrum through the skin. The bite of the tick is almost painless:to be discreet, it secretes anesthetic substances! At the same time, the tick cements its grip with a kind of glue.
When detaching after a blood meal, the tick dissolves its glue and then drops to the ground to moult. She will later look for a new host for a new blood meal. An adult female who has taken her blood meal will be fertilized and then lay eggs. It can gorge itself on blood up to 200 times its original weight!
Contrary to popular belief, ticks do not jump! To find a host, they climb on blades of grass, ferns, brush ... at a height generally less than 1 meter. They then remain on the lookout for the passage of an animal within their reach.
Forests, meadows, gardens and pastures are all territories appreciated by ticks for their richness in grasses and brush, as well as animals.
Ticks are sensitive to certain climatic parameters:
Tick activity is highest in spring and fall, but the risk is also present during summer. However, at higher altitudes, they are more severe in summer.
Some regions are more infested by ticks (Alsace, Limousin, Rhône-Alpes...), but these mites are present throughout France.
According to Public Health France, around a quarter of the French population have been bitten by a tick in their lifetime. Some populations are more affected by tick bites:
Be careful, ticks do not only threaten you during hikes:17 to 47% of tick bites are linked to visiting a garden, whether private or public!
You can report a tick bite to INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) to help improve prevention by establishing a map of reports. You can also send the ticks that have bitten you to the Tous Chercheurs laboratory in Nancy.
Worldwide, ticks are the second vector of disease for humans after mosquitoes.
It is mainly by detaching itself from its host after the blood meal that an infected tick can transmit pathogens. Diseases transmitted by ticks include:
There is a risk of transmission of these infectious agents only 24 hours after the tick bite , which is why it is important to remove ticks as soon as possible using a tick remover . The ideal is to avoid tick bites! Find all our anti-tick advice.
