Re: Ticks survive washing!

Wow, I'll say.  I never knew they'd survive the washer & dryer!!

On 10/5/07, Daryl <pulis@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> I always figured that ticks were killed in the wash, so I found this
> spooky.
> It's easy enough to get RMSF or Lyme or something when you're in the
> garden,
> but getting bit when you think you're safe...
>
> I think I'll use my dryer more often during tick season.
>
> d
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jesse Bell" <silverhawk@flash.net>
> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 10:06 AM
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Ticks survive washing!
>
>
> > Wow...my mother had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick.  She will
> > have residual side affects from that for the rest of her life.
> >
> >
> > Daryl <pulis@mindspring.com> wrote:
> >  From the USDA's Agricultural Research Service:
> >
> > Before venturing into tick-infested territory, you used a topical
> > repellant on
> > exposed skin and outer clothing. When you returned, you did a body check
> > and
> > threw your clothes in the wash. But clean clothes may not be tick-free
> > clothes.
> >
> > When he found a live lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) on the
> agitator
> > of
> > his washing machine, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist
> John
> > Carroll decided to find out how tough ticks are. So he bagged up nymphs
> > from
> > two species--the lone star tick and the deer tick, (Ixodes scapularis),
> > the
> > creature that transmits Lyme disease--and put them in the washing
> machine.
> >
> > Carroll used a combination of water temperature settings and detergent
> > types
> > to wash the ticks. The majority of lone star ticks survived all the
> > water-detergent combinations with no obvious side effects. Most of the
> > deer
> > ticks lived through the cold and warm water settings as well. But when
> one
> > type of detergent was used with a hot water setting, only 25 percent of
> > the
> > deer ticks survived.
> >
> > When it came time to dry, all the ticks of both species died after an
> hour
> > of
> > tumbling around at high heat. But when the dryer was set to "no heat,"
> > about
> > one-third of the deer ticks and more than half of the lone star ticks
> > survived.
> >
> > Carroll placed the ticks in mesh bags, which kept them from draining
> away
> > during the rinse cycle and perhaps increased their odds for survival.
> > However,
> > ticks might also survive a sudsy interlude by sheltering in the folds
> and
> > crevices of a typical load of laundry. Some tick species have been
> > observed to
> > survive hours of submersion in fresh water.
> >
> > Both adult ticks and nymphs can transmit disease. Carroll's research
> > reinforces recommendations by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
> > Prevention to wash and dry clothes at high temperatures after spending
> > time in
> > areas known to harbor ticks.
> >
> > Carroll conducts research at the ARS Animal Parasitic Diseases
> Laboratory,
> > Beltsville, Md.
> >
> > ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
> > agency.
>
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>


-- 
Pam Evans
Kemp TX
zone 8A

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