The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1933-07-06
MAY CONTRACT SPOTTED
FEVER FROM TICK BITES
Campers and Picnickers Are Civ
en- Number of Precautions

en- Number OF Precautions
In a bulletin, just issued, which
calls attention to the danger of con-
tracing spotted fever, from the bite
of infected ticks, the State Depart
ment of Health advises campers, hik
ers, picnickers, owners of camps, or of
shores, and all others whose work or
pleasure takes them into sections in
which ticks are especially abundant,
to take the following precautions:
1. Avoid ticks. Be particularly care
full when walking along trails through
the woods.
2. Remove ticks when found on the
person or animals, as speedily as pos
sible, but take great care in doing so,
that the ticks are not crushed between
the fingers. If the insect is already
embedded in the flesh, use forceps or
wear gloves. A slight break in the
skin will serve as a portal of entry
for the infectious virus.
3. Cut out underground and weeds;
cut grass very short around dwell
ings, along paths, near bathing pools
and shores. Remove and burn debris.
4. Wear suitable clothing in going
through tick-infested areas.
5. On hikes or camping trips, or in
heavily infested areas, both clothing
and body should be carefully inspect
ed, at least twice daily, but especially
on retiring.
6. Since tck-infested dogs are po-
tential carriers of the infection, it is
not only important that dogs be kept
free from ticks, as advised in item 2,
but care should also be taken to pre-
vent dogs, from sections in which the
disease has appeared, from roaming
at large and from invading other coun-
ties. Persons who take their dogs
from one section to another should be
especially careful to see that their
dogs are free from ticks.
In urging that these precautions
be taken, DR.. R. H. Riley, Director of
the State Department of Health, said,
at has been definitely established that
the tick-the kind that you find on
your dog, or on your own person,
after a walk through the high grass
or through the woods-is carrier OF
Al &c that Cnnttph
fever. Not all ticks are infected, but
those that are infected are sources of
grave danger. 1t is best to regard all
of them as sources of danger and to
exercise the utmost care in handling
them, as the infection can be abb
sorbed through a scratch or break in
the skin as we'll as through the bite of
the infected insect. Ticks are inactive
in the winter and then start up again
in the spring. They are especially
active during the spring and summer
months.
"Since the middle of May, 20 cases
of spotted fever have been reported
to the Bureau of Communicable Dis
eases, 90 from the counties and one
from Baltimore City. There have been
five deaths, all of which originated in
the counties. The cases have been
widely distributed and have been re-
ported from eleven counties-Anne
Arundel, Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll,
Dorchester, Frederick, Howard, Kent,
Montgomery, Somerset and Wicomico
counties.
Spotted fever has been we'll known
in the Rocky Mountain regions for
long time. It has been comparatively
unknown, under that name, in the
Eastern states until recently. 1t was
first recognized in Maryland about a
years ago. From 1880 to 1882, 127
cases were reported to the Depart
ment, 1O4 from the counties and %
from Baltimore City, with 16 deaths,
II reported from the counties and 5
from Baltimore City.
Allegany, Garrett and Washington
counties have not had any cases of the
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, accord
ing to DR.. C. H. Halliday, epidemiolo-
gist of the State Department of
Health. The disease has been re-
ported in all the other counties of the
State, he said.
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