Review

An overview of tick removal methods

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  • College of Life Sciences, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050024, China

Received date: 2020-06-22

  Online published: 2021-04-20

Supported by

Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province of China (No. C2019205064), and National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFC0506903)

Abstract

Ticks are obligate bloodsucking arthropods that transmit the most diverse pathogens, and the harm to humans caused by ticks is secondary only to that by mosquitoes. Once a tick bites the human body, it can ingest a large amount of blood and release toxins or pathogens if not removed immediately, which causes great harm to humans. Hence, it is of great importance to remove on-host ticks on the body surface as soon as possible. A huge number of tick biting cases occur in China each year, whereas there still exist controversies regarding how to remove the ticks correctly. It has attracted more and more public attention regarding how to correctly remove the biting ticks to avoid the occurrence of tick-borne diseases and the release of tick-mediated toxins. This article has made a comparative analysis on the tick removal methods in recent years and evaluated the effects of different removal methods as well as their advantages and disadvantages and scope of application. This provides a theoretical foundation for reducing tick-induced harm to humans; meanwhile, it is important for effective prevention and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Key words: Tick; Bite; Removal; Protection

Cite this article

ZHANG Meng, WANG Tong-xuan, YU Zhi-jun, LIU Jing-ze . An overview of tick removal methods[J]. Chinese Journal of Vector Biology and Control, 2021 , 32(2) : 243 -246 . DOI: 10.11853/j.issn.1003.8280.2021.02.025

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