AFC Urgent Care Yorktown Heights Information on Tick Bites

Tickborne Diseases

The Tickborne Disease Info-line, (914) 813-LYME, is available 24-hours-a-day with information about tickborne diseases and their prevention.
Health Department staff identify trends in Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and other tick-borne diseases through reports received annually from physicians and laboratories. These reports assure that the Health Department has an accurate picture of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases in the county.

Other tickborne diseases, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis, continue to spread in Westchester County. Education, prevention of tick bites and recognition and treatment of early signs and symptoms remain our best weapon in the battle against tickborne diseases. Another tickborne disease, babesiosis, is also found in Westchester County.

The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick (or deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast. Ixodes ticks are much smaller than common dog and cattle ticks. In their larval and nymphal stages, they are no bigger than a pinhead.

Ticks feed by inserting their mouths into the skin of a host and slowly taking in blood. Ixodes ticks are most likely to transmit infection after feeding for 36 to 48 hours. Ticks generally need to be attached for at least 24 hours before they can pass along infections such as Lyme disease. Preventive measures, such as the use of insect repellents, protective clothing, daily tick checks and proper tick removal are the most effective ways to prevent tickborne diseases.

You can contact our clinic at (914) 825-4606. We accept most major insurance plans.