This is a topic that lots of people are concerned about. I normally don’t think about things like this at all, but due to recent events, it is at the forefront of my mind. While working with a friend, I received a tick bite. We removed the tick, and I forgot about it for a few days. Within a couple of days, the bite location started turning red and itching like mad. I doctored it with peroxide and ointment. I figured it would go away in a couple of days. It didn’t go away. I finally went to the doctor and was placed on two antibiotics. So, that started me researching tick-transmitted diseases.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Wood tick
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is carried by wood and dog ticks. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is caused by a bacteria that the ticks can pass to humans. If not treated soon, RMSF can lead to life threatening complications like shock and kidney failure. The first symptoms of RMSF normally occur a week after the bite has occurred and can include any of the following: fever, severe headache, nausea or vomiting, muscle and joint pain. Any or all of these appear in connection with a distinct rash. The rash is purple or red spots that normally start either on the hands or feet and spread to the arms, legs, then the rest of the body. If diagnosed quickly, RMSF can be treated with antibiotics. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is not something to be played with.

Dog Tick
Lyme Disease
Lyme Disease got its name because it was first diagnosed in Lyme, Connecticut in 1975. I remember first hearing about Lyme disease being in our area in the late ’70s. Lyme disease is carried by deer tick. Symptoms of Lyme disease include a rash a site of bite, fever, headache, and fatigue. If Lyme disease is untreated, the infection can spread to the heart, nervous system, and joints. Untreated Lyme disease has been known to cause chronic arthritis. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics.
More Tick Borne Diseases
I am all-too-familiar with tick-borne diseases. My father almost died from erlichiosis a few years ago. He ended up in the ICU for 39 days, some of that time on a ventilator, with multiple organ damage, all because of one little disease-bearing tick. Fortunately, he made a full recovery and is fine now. I also have a friend who has been fighting the after-effects of lyme disease for over a year. Fortunately, she has an excellent doctor who is using specialized treatments, but it means she has to fly from Tennessee to New York State every 2 weeks, because no one around here specializes in Lyme or will get her the high-powered antibiotics and other medicines she needs to fight the disease.
I have heard that with any tick bite, if you see the tick (and remove it), a good idea is to put the dead tick on a piece of Scotch tape, mark the date, and then if you get ANY weird symptoms (even an ongoing headache–which was my dad’s primary symptom at first) within the next month or so, you’ll have the tick speciman available for any testing that they can do.
Thanks for bringing attention to this scary set of diseases. Definitely use insect repellant, and check daily for ticks if you’ve been out and about!