A doctor has urged people to beware of tick bites when traveling abroad after finding a tick on a woman who had recently traveled to Japan.
The woman, who had traveled to Japan’s Tohoku region, experienced pain in one of her shoulders for 10 days after returning to Taiwan and sought medical help, online news site the Apple Daily reported on Sunday.
Lin Kung-kai (林工凱), a doctor at a dermatology clinic in Kaohsiung who treated the woman, was quoted as saying that he found a lump with fine black threads on the woman’s shoulder.
Photo: Hsu Li-chuan, Taipei Times
Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a tick stuck under her skin with its legs left outside.
He removed the insect with a pair of tweezers and prescribed antibiotics to the woman, and asked her to return for follow-up examinations.
Lin said ticks are arthropods that are commonly found in the wilderness and are most active from April to October.
People might pick up ticks as they walk through grassland or forests, he said.
Lin also urged caution against Lyme disease, which is spread by infected ticks.
Symptoms of Lyme disease include a red expanding rash, fever and fatigue within three to 30 days of having been bitten by a tick, he said, adding that delayed treatment could lead to serious complications.
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected ticks, the Centers for Disease Control said.
However, the pathogen is not transmissible between humans, it said.
Lyme disease caused by tick bites usually affects mammals, including humans, rodents, dogs, cats, cows, horses and deer, it added.
Lin said people who are traveling to wooded or grassy places in areas where Lyme disease is endemic should avoid sitting on the ground for too long; wear protective clothing such as long sleeves, gloves and boots; and use insect repellents containing DEET or picaridin, to prevent tick bites.
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