Tick-borne diseases, particularly Lyme disease, have become a significant public health issue during the last decade.  Learning how to recognize and avoid tick-infested areas is the best way of preventing exposure to ticks and tick-borne diseases.  However, people working or recreating in tick infested areas can reduce the chance of being bitten and acquiring a tick-borne disease by taking some simple precautions.  The best way to control ticks around your home is to make your landscape inhospitable to them through habitat modification.  Use of pesticides for tick control should be considered as a final alternative to the preventive measures discussed above, and only after the presence of ticks has been documented.  Infected deer ticks must feed for at least 24 hours before they can begin to transmit the Lyme disease spirochete.  Therefore you should remove ticks as soon as possible.  Ticks that are removed promptly are unlikely to transmit disease organisms.  The identification and testing of ticks can serve as an “early warning” of disease transmission for people receiving a tick-bite. 

The following links provide a summary of published research on managing exposure to ticks.  They include information on tick biology, ecology, and behavior, because an understanding of these factors is helpful in avoiding exposure to ticks, and in developing a successful tick reduction program.

Protecting Your Home:  Habitat Modification
Personal Protection
Protecting Your Pets
Finding and Removing Ticks