Backcountry flying?

Tick bites are a common outdoor health concern, especially in wooded, grassy, brushy, and leaf-littered areas like the backcountry. Although many tick bites cause only minor skin irritation, some ticks carry bacteria, viruses, or parasites that may lead to serious illness. Because ticks can be very small and their bites are often painless, the host may not realize they have been bitten until symptoms appear or an attached tick is found.

Ticks feed by attaching to the skin and feasting on human or animal blood. During feeding, an infected tick can transmit disease-causing organisms directly into the body of its target. Some tick-borne illnesses are mild when treated early but can become severe if treatment is delayed.

Lyme disease is spread by blacklegged ticks, also called deer ticks. It may present with fever, chills, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint aches, swollen lymph nodes, and sometimes a spreading rash that may look like a bull’s-eye. If untreated, Lyme disease can affect the joints, nervous system, and heart, and the symptoms can be lifelong and life threatening.

Other tick-related diagnoses include Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other spotted fever rickettsioses. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can become life-threatening if treatment is delayed, so prompt medical evaluation is important when symptoms occur after a tick bite.

Bacterial infections including ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis can result in fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems may be at greater risk of severe disease.

Alpha-gal syndrome, a gift from the lone star tick, can trigger an allergy to a sugar molecule found in red meat. This condition may cause hives, itching, swelling, stomach upset, diarrhea, trouble breathing, or even a severe allergic reaction several hours after eating beef, pork, lamb, venison, or products made from mammals.

Prevention is the best protection. If you fly in the backcountry or have a grass strip with woods or tall grass nearby, be alert and check after the airplane is secured to confirm you didn’t pick up any unwanted passengers. If you develop symptoms, get checked out early to avoid developing symptoms that could impact your medical certificate eligibility or safety of flight if you operate under BasicMed or sport pilot rules. As with any medical condition, early intervention and treatment usually lead to the best outcomes.

Gary Crump is the director of medical certification for the AOPA Pilot Information Center.