Two children and an adult have been treated at Kelowna General Hospital in the last two weeks for partial paralysis as a result of tick bites.
When emergency doctor Jeff Eppler treated the first child, he was worried about a brain tumour. The next day, medical staff found a tick imbedded in the child‘s skin.
“Three people came into hospital with unexplained balance problems, vague numbness and sometimes leg weakness,” Eppler said Thursday. “All three were found to have a tick attached to them.”
Once the ticks were removed, the symptoms cleared up within a day or two, Eppler said. Because spring is tick season, he‘s warning parents to look for a tick if their child appears off balance or has other unexplained symptoms.
The Rocky Mountain wood tick is found in the B.C. Interior. It‘s a small, biting arachnid typically found on the tips of grass or shrubs. It preys mostly on rodents or other small animals, but there‘s nothing to stop it from latching onto humans as they walk by.
Once they find a host, the ticks attach their mouths to the skin for a long blood meal.
Females secrete a toxin in their saliva during the five to seven days it takes to engorge themselves with blood.
The toxin attacks the central nervous system and causes gradual paralysis in humans from the feet up, said Hugh Philip, entomologist with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
“The problem is when it gets to the chest muscles that help you breathe. In very rare instances, you can die of suffocation,” said Philip.
There‘s no know antidote for the paralysis because the toxin secreted by the female is unknown. The best way to remove the pest is to pinch it off with your fingernails or tweezers, Philip said.
The ticks tend to climb up to the hairline, where they stop to feed. On animals, they crawl along the crest of the neck and the back line.
“They‘ll be around into June,” Philip said. “Check your kids and your pets, too.”
The hospital cases are the first Philip has heard of in the Central Okanagan in three years.
The paralysis has nothing to do with Lyme disease, said Eppler. That infectious disease is carried by ticks in other parts of the province.
To avoid ticks, walk on cleared paths, wear long sleeves and pants, tuck the pant legs into socks or boots and use an insect repellent containing DEET. Top of Page
