One of the biggest — and smallest — enemies of those looking for closer contact with nature is also one of the most ignored by trail manuals aimed at beginners. It is the star tick, a small blood-sucking arachnid whose danger is generally greater than that of its cousins, spiders, but which has already caused six deaths this year in the state of Minas Gerais, one of its favorite environments, along with the interior of São Paulo.
According to an epidemiological bulletin published by the State Department of Health of Minas Gerais, this year six deaths have been recorded from spotted fever, a disease caused by the bite of ticks infected by the bacteria. Rickettsia rickettsii, two more cases than in 2024. In addition to these, until mid-October there were 35 more confirmed cases of the disease and nine under investigation.
As Janaína Teixeira, infectious disease specialist and professor at Afya São João del Rei, explained through her consultancy, “the transmission of spotted fever occurs when the infected tick remains attached to the skin for some time during the blood meal”, that is, when the animal is there enjoying its precious blood.
And it’s not just a simple fever, warns the doctor. The disease, which is endemic in Minas Gerais, that is, it is present continuously in the state, with records every year, “has a high lethality, with rates that can vary between 30% and 50%, which reinforces its severity and importance for public health”.
If ticks are old acquaintances of hikers in the cooler months, which include the mountaineering season in Brazil, the new thing about the crazy weather is that the animals decided to roam outside their usual window. Perhaps because they realized that many unwary beginners find it more pleasant to tackle the country’s trails to escape the heat of the hottest period, not always well informed about the basic precautions to take to avoid this, among other, setbacks.
For those arriving now, but also for the eternal optimists who believe in the strength of their guardian angel, below are some tips that can help you get rid of the tick statistics.
Prevention above all
- Always wear long pants and long-sleeved blouses or shirts, preferably light colors, which make it easier to see the tick. Will it heat up? Go. But just think about the temptation that that little tick that you can barely see will feel to jump onto that exposed skin, sweaty in shorts and a tank top and asking for trouble along the way.
- Wear boots, and, if possible, tuck the bottom of your pants into your shoes or socks. Sealing the hem of your pants with adhesive tape is also a good idea as it hinders the tick’s travel across the hiker’s body, even if, okay, it doesn’t look as elegant in the photo for your social media. Health first, let the haters of your look fight.
- If possible, avoid areas marked as having tick incidence. In general, areas with more intense tick density are marked with signs warning of the risk of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and the presence of ticks and animals involved in the transmission chain, especially dogs and capybaras (themselves, those friendly little animals that roam more and more freely around São Paulo’s roadsides and parks).
- Try, every two hours, to check if a tick has bypassed your best efforts and settled on some part of the exposed skin (remembering here that not even the face is free from being attacked by this pest and that such a creature has already been found, amazingly, in elongated eyelashes). “The faster it is removed, the lower the risk of an infection taking hold”, Tânia Chaves, infectious disease doctor and member of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases, highlighted to the report.
- Use repellent that contains icaridin, reapplying it to the skin every four hours, depending on the concentration of the product. “Some have long-lasting concentration, you have to check the packaging”, reminds Tânia. Many experienced hikers also recommend spraying your tent, clothes and backpack with the same product. Too little prevention is nonsense and, in these cases, it is better to err on the side of excess.
Xi, you caught me, now what?
Let’s assume that, despite all the precautions, the citizen found a tick on his skin. To begin with, don’t panic and, above all, DON’T RIP OFF THE TICK ANY WAY! It is, just like that, in big warning letters. The important thing is to follow some basic rules, namely:
- Never crush the tick when trying to remove it. In this process, bacteria that have the capacity to penetrate small lesions in the skin, including the hole made by the little villain, may be released.
- Do not force the tick to come off by touching it with a hot needle or matchstick. The stress caused by this process, which your sadistic aunt from the countryside assured was infallible, causes the animal to release a large amount of saliva, increasing the chances of transmitting the bacteria that cause the disease.
- The way to remove the animal from the skin is to very carefully pick it up GENTLY with tweezers, twisting it slightly so that the mouth releases the skin and interrupts the process of tasting its blood. Remember that, if part of it stays inside, the bacteria will be free, loose and ready to contaminate the hole, no matter how small it is (the bacteria will be even smaller, remember from biology classes?).
- After removal, wash the area with soap and water, then sanitize with 70° alcohol, a mandatory item in the first aid kit which, by the way, is an item that cannot be missing from any backpack.
- If you experience a headache, body aches, spots on your skin or a high fever, seek medical assistance as soon as possible and give all the details of where you have been, whether you have seen the tick and whether you have had contact with possible hosts (the tick bug mentioned above, and possibly horses). It could be that everything is just caused by the exhaustion of the trail, but, let’s face it, he certainly died of old age and here’s another piece of advice from the same aunt from the countryside: better safe than sorry.
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