Personal Protection
5 Tips to Prevent Tick Bites and Tick-borne Disease
Ticks live in grassy, woody, or brushy areas, depending on the species of tick. Knowing where ticks can be and what time of year to expect them can help reduce your risk of encountering ticks.
- Avoid known or suspected tick-infested areas, especially during the warmer months in Wisconsin.
- Walk in the center of mowed or cleared trails.
- Avoid walking through wooded and brushy areas with leaf litter and avoid brushing up against vegetation and tall grass.
Permethrin is an insecticide with some repellency properties and kills ticks on contact. Treat clothing and gear, including boots, pants, socks and tents. Permethrin cannot be applied directly to the skin. It should be applied to clothing and allowed to dry before the clothes are worn.
- In a controlled indoor study by Miller et al. (2011) to asses the number of tick bites (using pathogen-free nymphal deer ticks–Ixodes scapularis) received by individuals wearing either permethrin-treated or untreated summer clothing (t-shirt, shorts, socks, and sneakers), human volunteers wearing outfits treated with permethrin received 3.36 times fewer tick bites than subjects wearing untreated outfits. Success of the permethrin-treated clothing in reducing tick bites was dependent on the article of clothing. Subjects wearing permethrin-treated sneakers and socks were 73.6 times less likely to have a tick bite than subjects wearing untreated foot gear and those wearing permethrin-treated shorts and t-shirts were 4.74 and 2.17 times less likely to receive a tick bite in areas related to those garments than subjects wearing untreated shorts and t-shirts. Ticks found attached to human volunteers were also classified as dead or alive before removal. On subjects wearing untreated clothing, 97.6% of attached nymphs were alive, whereas significantly fewer (22.6%) attached nymphs were alive on subjects wearing repellent-treated outfits.
- Clothing pre-treated with permethrin is available and has been demonstrated to be highly effective against ticks in several studies and can retain insecticidal activity for over 70 washings. (Vaughn and Meshnick 2011 and Miller et al. 2011). In a nonrandomized open label pilot study to determine the effectiveness of Insect Shield-treated clothing (long-lasting permethrin impregnated clothing) for the prevention of tick bites among outdoor workers from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality in actual field conditions, subjects wearing Insect Shield-treated clothing had a 93% reduction (p < 0.0001) in the total incidence of tick bites compared to subjects using standard tick bite prevention measures (Vaughn and Meshnick 2011).
- For pet owners: beware when applying permethrin to your clothing or if you use spot-on treatments for dogs which contain permethrin. Cats are especially sensitive to permethrin toxicity. (Richardson 2000).
- Light-colored clothing makes ticks easier to see. In a study evaluating how good people are at conducting tick checks, we found that people are 3 times better at detecting ticks on white clothing than on black clothing.
- Wearing long sleeves, long socks, and long pants can also protect you from potential tick bites by providing a barrier between you and the tick. Tucking your pants into your socks, wearing rubber boots, and tucking your shirt into pants can also limit areas where ticks can reach your skin
Once you come indoors after being outside, check your clothing for ticks. If possible, shower soon after coming inside. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks and it is a good opportunity to do a tick check.
Pro tip: Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothing after you come indoors.
If your clothes need to be washed, the CDC recommends hot water be used instead of cold water.
Click here to learn more about our research on tick checks:
Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body for ticks. Check these parts of your body and your child’s body for ticks:
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- Under the arms
- In and around the ears
- Inside belly button
- Back of the knees
- In and around the hair
- Between the legs
- Around the waist
Click on this link to learn more about tick repellents registered by the EPA, or click on the tabs below to find more information on active ingredients:
When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Remember to always supervise and help children apply insect repellents or insecticides according to the labeled directions. For more information about types of insect repellents available for use on children and tips for using insect repellents safely on children see recommendation from HealthyChildren.org by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
Repellents
EPA-Registered Repellents:
EPA registered skin-applied repellents are products that have been evaluated and approved for human safety and effectiveness when applied according to the instructions on the label.The evaluation of these products also assures that the product does not pose risks to vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women. These are the repellents that the CDC recommends for use. All of these repellents will repel mosquitoes, but not all are registered for protection from ticks.
The EPA has a helpful search tool to find EPA-registered repellents:
Click the tabs below to learn more about EPA-registered active ingredients for use on ticks:
Active Ingredient: 2-Undecanone, methyl nonyl ketone
Number of Products EPA-Registered: 1
Brand Names:
BIO-UD-8 Spray 7.5% (2 hour protection from ticks)
Information:
Originally isolated from the glandular trichomes of the wild tomato plant, Lycopersicon hirsutum f. glabratum.
In a study by Bissinger et al. (2009), repellent efficacy of BioUD® (7.75% 2-undecanone and DEET (98.1%) in a laboratory setting was examined using choice-tests on treated and untreated filter paper (control). BioUD® (7.75% 2-undecanone) provided significantly greater mean percentage repellency than 98.1% DEET against both A. americanum and I. scapularis and provided equivalent repellency to DEET against D. variabilis. In the same study, head-to-head assays between BioUD® and DEET, undiluted and 50% dilutions of BioUD® were more repellent than undiluted DEET against all three species of ticks tested.
BioUD® (7.75% 2-undecanone) was also more repellent than 15% DEET in a laboratory setting against D. variabilis directly comparing the repellents on filter paper. BioUD® also provided high repellency on treated cotton cheesecloth for 8 days after treatment against D. variabilis (Witting-Bissinger et al. 2008).
Active Ingredient: Citronella or Citronella Oil
Number of EPA-Registered Products for Ticks: 2, but many unregistered products may contain citronella or citronella oil
Brand Names:
- Bug Block Sunscreen and Insect Repellent (4.2%)(1 hour protection from ticks)
- Natrapel Sun (4.2%)(1 hour protection from ticks)
Information:
Active Ingredient: DEET
Number of Products Registered by EPA (Ticks and Mosquitoes): More than 500
Brand Names: Many brand names, formulations, and concentrations available from various manufacturers or distributors. Except for a few veterinary uses, DEET is registered for use by consumers, and it is not used on food.
Effectiveness: DEET is an effective against ticks but is considered less repellent than piperidines or permethrin. There are approximately 230 products containing DEET registered with the EPA, which range in concentration from 4% to 100%.
Effectiveness of DEET on the skin depends on the concentration, absorption through the skin, evaporation, sweating, air temperature, wind, and abrasion of the treated surface by rubbing or washing. Due to the variation in effectiveness, is must be reapplied periodically depending on the product specifications. DEET is effective against several tick species.
When applied only to clothing, an aerosol application of 20% and 30% DEET was found to be 86% and 92% effective against all three life stages of Ixodes scapularis (deer tick), respectively (Schreck et al. 1986), but skin applications were reported to be only 75 to 87% effective against crawling Amblyomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis (Schreck et al. 1995).
Recommendations: Use insect repellents that contain at least 20-50% DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) on exposed skin. DEET efficacy tends to plateau at a concentration of approximately 50% (Zielinski-Gutierrez et al. 2012). Always follow the manufacturers instructions on the label. DEET is only a repellent and does not provide 100% protection against tick bites.
Active ingredient: IR3535
Number of EPA-Registered Products: about 45
Active Ingredient % Range for Registered Products: 7.5%-20.7%
Brand names:
- Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Plus IR3535® (spray or lotion with or without sunblock, varying protection time for ticks based on % active ingredient in the formula)
- Bug Repell IR3535 10% Lotion, aerosol, or spray (8 hours tick protection time)
- Coleman Skin Smart Insect Repellent (20%)(8 hours)
Information:
Classified by the EPA as a bio-pesticide and approved for use in the USA in 1999. It is derived synthetically from a natural amino acid beta-alanine.
Cilek (2002) determined IR3535 was more repellent than similar concentrations of DEET against nymphal I. scapularis.
Carroll et al. (2008) tested three controlled release formulations of IR3535 against nymphal I. scapularis.
- 10% lotion formulation- prevented ticks from crossing treated areas on human volunteers for 9.1 hours.
- 20% aerosol- prevented ticks from crossing treated areas for 11 hours
- 20% pump spray- prevented ticks from crossing treated areas for 12.2 hours.
Active Ingredient: Oil of lemon eucalyptus/pmd
Number of Registered Products: 6 (oil of lemon eucalyptus) and 6 (p-Menthane-3,8-diol (pmd))
Active Ingredient % Range for Registered Products: 30%-40%
Brand Names:
- OFF! Botanicals (pmd 10%) (2 hours of protection)
- Treefrog Insect Repellent (10% pmd) 2 hours of protection
- Citrapel Lotion (30% lemon eucalyptus oil)(6 hours of protection from ticks)
- Fite Bite 6 Hour (30% lemon eucalyptus oil)(6 hours of protection from ticks)
- Repel Essential Insect Repellent Lotion (30% lemon eucalyptus oil) and pump spray(40%)(6 hours of protection from ticks)
Information: Oil of lemon eucalyptus contains pmd, but is a separately regulated pesticide chemical.
Active Ingredient: Picaridin (Icaridin or KBR3023)
Number of Products Registered by EPA: about 40
Brand Names:
Many brand names that are registered by EPA for use on ticks. See EPA website for more information.
Information:
Repellent based on piperidine, a colorless organic compound with a peppery odor. The piperidine structural motif is present in natural alkaloids including piperine, which gives black pepper (Piper spp.) its hot flavor. Other examples of insect repellents which are derived from piperidine include: AI3-37220 (cyclohex-3-enyl 2-methylpi- peridin-1-yl ketone) and the 1S, 20S stereoisomer of AI3-37220 or SS220 (Morpel 220).
Effectiveness:
Studies have shown that picaridin products have similar effectiveness to DEET at preventing tick and mosquito bites, but unlike DEET, picaridin does not have a strong smell and does not melt plastics.
Learn More About Picaridin:
Unregistered Products (Minimal Risk Pesticides)
Some repellents for sale in the United States do not require EPA registration. The active ingredients in these products have been evaluated for safety but not effectiveness against ticks. This minimal risk determination exempts these products from registration.
Examples of ingredients used in unregistered repellents:
- Citronella Oil
- Cedar Oil
- Geranium Oil
- Peppermint/Peppermint Oil
- Soybean Oil