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This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00F0_01C8E0F3.88450AC0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Tick talk Experts argue smothering versus pulling By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau Chronicle Herald Tue. Jul 8, 2008 An expert on parasites says the proper way to remove a tick is to coat = it with some substance that inhibits its breathing, causing it to pull = out of the skin on its own. (Fotolia) The province is giving out wrong information on how to get ticks off = your body, says a Halifax-based parasitologist. The Department of Health Protection and Promotion puts out a brochure = that says to grasp the tick with tweezers and gently pull it straight = out. Edith Angelopoulos cringed when she read that piece of advice. "You cannot pull them out," she said. The only way to get them off is to = cut off their air supply. Ms. Angelopoulos taught parasitology at Dalhousie University for 30 = years.=20 She said ticks have a proboscis that digs into the skin so that it can = attach itself. The tick also has spines pointed back from its body and = its head has little pumps that pump an anti-coagulant into its host. "You start to pull it out and you can't pull it out because of the = spines, so its head usually breaks off. Its head stays in and keeps = contracting, pumping that anti-coagulant." The leftover head can cause nasty health problems for the host, = including tumours, growths and infections, she said. The host's body may = react to the foreign body and build a defence around it. "I saw a person = who had a tumour removed one year after the tick had been pulled out." There is only one proper way to get rid of a tick. "You need to stop it = from getting air. You find a tick and all you need to do is to cover the = area thoroughly with a greasy substance like butter or lard or = Vaseline." That plugs the holes through which the tick breathes, it = contracts the tiny spines and you can easily pull the tick off. Once the tick's head has broken off, Ms. Angelopoulos said the only way = to remove it is with microsurgery. Health promotion spokesman Brett Loney said the province stands by the = advice it is giving out. "We've told people to pull them off with = tweezers. That's what we've always told people to do," and he said = that's based on advice from the medical community, the medical health = officer, Department of Natural Resources insect specialists and the = Public Health Agency of Canada. The agency's national microbiology lab = in Winnipeg tests the ticks for Lyme disease. Robbin Lindsay is the agency's specialist in ticks and Lyme disease. He = is away and could not be reached for comment Monday but he did give a = media interview last week. Agency spokeswoman Jana Lerner said he said = "use tweezers to carefully grasp the tick as close to the skin as = possible and pull slowly upward, avoiding twisting or crushing the = tick." He also said not to smother the tick, she said. "Absolutely wrong," Ms. Angelopoulpos said. "I stand by what I said." She said the only other alternative to applying a greasy substance is to = wait until the tick has had its fill of blood, and it will simply drop = off, but she said that could take some time. Ticks first came to Nova Scotia in the 1940s, Ms. Angelopoulos said, = when a farmer imported sheep into Yarmouth. By the 1980s, ticks were = discovered in Kejimkujik National Park. Today, they are across the = province. "And the biggest carriers are dogs." Marni Gent's two dogs have Lyme disease. They contracted it near their = home in Garden Lots. Ms. Gent put banners up on Canada Day on the old = schoolhouse she and her husband own proclaiming the tiny community just = outside Lunenburg as ground zero for Lyme disease. Five of the 12 = confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Nova Scotia are in Garden Lots. The banners were vandalized overnight July 1 and Ms. Gent thinks it's = because someone was upset by the use of the term "ground zero". She put = the signs back up but discovered Saturday morning that someone had = spray-painted obscene images over them. RCMP Cpl. Rob Lewis said police are investigating the vandalism. Ms. Gent said she is disturbed someone would deface the banners. She = said she will change "ground zero" to "hot spot" and repair the rest of = the banner with green and white paint. The sign is staying, and she = hopes the attention given to the vandalism won't detract from her true = concern - the prevalence of Lyme disease-carrying ticks in her = community. ( bware@herald.ca) ------=_NextPart_000_00F0_01C8E0F3.88450AC0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.6000.16674" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial> <P>Tick talk</P> <P>Experts argue smothering versus pulling</P> <P>By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau</P> <P>Chronicle Herald</P> <P>Tue. Jul 8, 2008</P> <P>An expert on parasites says the proper way to remove a tick is to = coat it=20 with some substance that inhibits its breathing, causing it to pull out = of the=20 skin on its own. (Fotolia)</P> <P>The province is giving out wrong information on how to get ticks off = your=20 body, says a Halifax-based parasitologist.</P> <P>The Department of Health Protection and Promotion puts out a brochure = that=20 says to grasp the tick with tweezers and gently pull it straight out. = Edith=20 Angelopoulos cringed when she read that piece of advice.</P> <P>"You cannot pull them out," she said. The only way to get them off is = to cut=20 off their air supply.</P> <P>Ms. Angelopoulos taught parasitology at Dalhousie University for 30 = years.=20 </P> <P>She said ticks have a proboscis that digs into the skin so that it = can attach=20 itself. The tick also has spines pointed back from its body and its head = has=20 little pumps that pump an anti-coagulant into its host.</P> <P>"You start to pull it out and you can=92t pull it out because of the = spines, so=20 its head usually breaks off. Its head stays in and keeps contracting, = pumping=20 that anti-coagulant."</P> <P>The leftover head can cause nasty health problems for the host, =