HORRY COUNTY, SC (WPDE) — Ticks and chiggers are nothing new to Southerners, but the two bacterial infections they’re bringing to South Carolina are.
Our state, we normally think about Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but there are these two new cases of new bacterial infections that are kind of coming in that we want to closely monitor,” said Dr. Melissa Nolan, Asst. Professor of Epidemiology at the Arnold School of Public Health USC.
Dr. Nolan said in 2023, they discovered the first potential case of an unusual tick or chigger-born disease just outside of Myrtle Beach.
This summer, they’re planning on spending more time in our area to better understand these diseases and educate others.
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Both of these are very easily treated by antibiotics. The challenge is though that most doctors aren’t thinking about them. You might get delayed in diagnosis, and so that’s real the concern,” said Dr. Nolan.
One is called Rickettsia Parkeri and is brought on by one of the nine types of ticks in South Carolina – the Gulf Coast Tick.
The other disease is called Scrub Typhus and is brought on by a chigger bite.
Anyone from South Carolina has probably come into contact with chiggers. They’re familiar with what these guys can do, but normally other than just biting you and being a nuisance, we don’t think about them transmitting disease. But, there is a bacterial infection they can transmit called Scrub Typhus, which is one we want to see and understand more,” said Dr. Nolan.
While both Rickettsia Parkeri and Scrub Typhus are different bacterial infections, they have a similar warning sign.
One characteristic about them is something called an eschar. An eschar is where the tick or the chigger bites your skin. It can cause the death of that tissue right there. So, imagine if you will – it almost looks like you took a cigarette to your skin and you got a cigarette burn. You get this black center where that tissue is actually dying,” said Dr. Nolan.
The Bureau of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control said they’re not tracking these new diseases yet.
They typically don’t until there are more cases in South Carolina or until it’s added to the CDC’s Notifiable Disease List.
Yet, of the current tick diseases they do track, they have similar symptoms to watch out for.
All of them can come from the bite of a tick. And they all cause fever, headache, body aches, and some of them can become quite chronic, and lead to long-term effects,” said Dr. Martha Buchanan, the Interim Director of the Bureau of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control for the S.C. Dept. of Public Health.
Dr. Buchanan says no matter the disease, the most important thing is prevention.
The important thing for people to think about, t doesn’t matter what disease we’re talking about, is prevention. How do we prevent tick bites? One is avoiding places where ticks hang out,” said Dr. Buchanan. She added, “So prevention is avoiding those areas one, two – wearing long pants and long sleeves can help reduce the risk. The tick can get to your skin because they can’t latch on to your clothing, they have to latch on to your skin. Repellents with Deet are the ones you need to use. Those are helpful in reducing the risk. Also really important, after you’ve been out for a hike, working in your yard, or even in a field – do a check. See if you have any ticks,” said Dr. Buchanan.
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Another good tip for preventing a tick bite is to maintain your yard.
Ticks prefer small animals and rodents, so keeping your yard clean of areas that would attract them is a good idea.
Dr. Nolan is working to set up an event in early August in Loris to test for some of these new diseases.
When details are finalized for it — we’ll make sure to let you know on air and online.
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