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Hard Tick Larvae Increase in Fall... Take Precautions During Outdoor Activities Such as Grass Cutting and Visiting Graves

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The Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health and Environment urged residents to take special precautions to avoid bites from hard ticks that transmit Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS), as outdoor activities such as grass cutting, visiting graves, and hiking increase in the fall.

Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne infectious disease primarily transmitted through the bite of a hard tick carrying the virus during outdoor activities. Prevention is particularly important because people in high-risk groups, including older adults, may be at risk of developing severe illness.

In particular, September, when outdoor activities such as grass cutting, visiting graves, and hiking are common, is a period when hard tick larvae are especially abundant.

Hard ticks can feed on humans at all developmental stages—larva, nymph, and adult—and a bite from a tick carrying the virus can result in infection with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS).

Because larvae are extremely small and difficult to detect with the naked eye, extra care is needed to prevent tick bites during outdoor activities.

Residents should follow tick-bite prevention guidelines during outdoor activities, including wearing long clothing and using tick repellent.

After outdoor activities, residents should wash themselves and carefully check their bodies for attached ticks. If symptoms such as high fever, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea develop within two weeks, they should immediately visit a medical institution, inform medical staff of their recent outdoor activities, and seek medical care.

Meanwhile, the Institute has been conducting surveys twice a month from April through November at Baegyangsan Mountain and Eulsukdo Island to monitor the distribution of hard ticks in the region and determine whether they carry the Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) virus.

In the September survey, a total of 557 hard ticks were collected, of which 452 were larvae, accounting for 81.1% of the total. Tests conducted on the collected hard ticks for the Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) virus found no positive samples.

Lee Yong-ju, Director of the Busan Metropolitan City Institute of Health and Environment, said, “Because larvae are extremely small and difficult to spot, greater care is needed during outdoor activities such as grass cutting, visiting graves, and hiking.” He added, “We urge residents to strictly follow tick-bite prevention guidelines before and after outdoor activities.”