Best protection may be provided by regular use of anti-parasite products with a repellent as well as acaricidal action, like advantix^®.

For owners and their dogs, the preventative measures should be considered.

Tuck pants into socks to protect yourself from the bites of ticks and other vectors.

• Checking often for ticks especially after leaving the woods. Common sites of attachment include the underarms, the groin, behind the knee, and the nape of the neck.

• Examine children often, paying special attention to the head, neck and ears. Teach them to avoid tall grass and low brush.

• Removing and preserving any ticks for laboratory testing.

• Using insect repellent containing moderate (20 to 50 percent) concentrations of N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) on the skin according to label directions. Repellents containing DEET will last only a few hours before reapplication is necessary. Do not use indiscriminately as severe allergies can develop in certain persons. Use DEET with caution on children. Application of large amounts of DEET on children has been associated with adverse reactions.

• Repellents containing permethrin may also be sprayed on clothing, especially pant legs and socks. They will last for several days.

Do not allow pets to roam freely!

Free-roaming pets help perpetuate tick problems, and pets also can be infected with tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. However, dogs appear to be sentinel hosts but not reservoirs for human infection.

In general, allowing pets to roam freely is not recommended. Ticks may hitch a ride and fall off in the house. Keep dogs and cats tied or restricted to a mowed area. If pets are allowed to roam free, check them daily specially if allowed indoors. Do not let animals rest on furniture and don't sleep with them.

Tick Removal

• Do not squeeze, crush, or puncture the body of the tick because its fluids (saliva, body fluids, gut contents) may contain infectious organisms.
• After removing the tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash your hands with soap and water.
• Save the tick for identification in case you become ill. This may help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis. Place the tick in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer. Write the date of the bite on a piece of paper with a pencil and place it in the bag.

• Ticks that move over the human or animal skin can not transmit the pathogens, therefore these ticks should be removed and destroyed.
• Ticks that have been attached for more than 24 hours(known time between activities in a tick habitat and detection of an attached tick) are capable to transmit pathogens.
• Persons with attached ticks for more than 48 hours should seek medical advice, while a single-dose doxycycline showed to be highly effective to prevent Lyme Disease (Nadelman et al. 2001).

Folklore remedies

Folklore remedies such as the use of petroleum jelly or hot matches, do little to encourage a tick to detach from skin. In fact, they may make matters worse by irritating the tick and stimulating it to release additional saliva or regurgitate gut contents, increasing the chances of transmitting the pathogen. These methods of tick removal should be avoided. A number of tick removal devices have been marketed, but none are better than a plain set of fine tipped tweezers.