Do Not Put a Cigarette Butt or Pour Olive Oil or Liquid Soap on the Tick

Our Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialist lists the precautions that can be taken against ticks as follows...

You can return with a tick from outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, picnicking, cycling, climbing, and fishing. Not all ticks transmit CCHF (Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever). But especially if you live in areas where the disease is encountered, and if you are there for one reason or another, you should be careful.

Yeditepe University Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialists list the precautions that can be taken against ticks as follows:

• Manually apply tick repellent to all skin surfaces of the body except the eyes and lips.
• Spray clothing with tick repellents containing permethrin before wearing.
• Such tick repellants should never be applied to the body. They should be applied to the outer surfaces of the trousers and socks in particular. Clothes should be worn 2 hours after application.
• Wear light-colored and long-sleeved clothes. Tuck your trouser legs into your socks and boots.
• Take off your clothes, expose them to sunlight, or wash them at the end of the day.
• Use a floor cover if you are going to sit or lie down on the floor.
• Prefer the middle of the road as much as possible while walking.
• Do not press a cigarette butt on the tick, do not pour olive oil or liquid soap on it.

If You Think You Have Been Bitten by a Tick, Do Not  Panic!

Those who see the tick stuck to their body panic. Insect repellent, olive oil, liquid soap, etc. are poured on the tick. Yeditepe University Hospital Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Specialists make the following warnings: “We even see people pressing cigarette butts on ticks. These are extremely wrong. The tick, which carries the virus of CCHF disease, comes to suck human blood. And the virus that causes the disease is in the tick's mouth. While sucking blood, it does not actually release the virus. When it realizes that it is being disturbed, it releases it all. When liquid soap, olive oil, and insect repellent are poured on the tick, or when it is tried to be removed by hand, it realizes that it is disturbed and releases the virus. The best thing to do is to have the tick removed in a health facility.”