Here's something from http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001044/
<quote>
Ticks (Ixodoidea) Worldwide, tick bites are responsible for the
transmission of both rickettsial and viral infections and Lyme disease.
In America, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever and Lyme
disease. In Australia, Q fever, tick paralysis, Queensland tick typhus
and Worldwide tick typhus. Soft ticks are widely distributed and can
cause endemic relapsing fever.
Ticks attach to the skin and feed with a barbed hypostome and then
detach when engorged. The bites are usually painless but can cause
local sensitisation and secondary infection. There are many way
suggested for removing ticks, including, but not limited to, heat,
alcohol, and Vaseline. These methods all have disadvantages and may
agitate the tick which, for example, in the case of the paralysis tick
can cause more toxin to be expressed into the victim. A method that
works well and minimises further expression of tick fluids is to lay
small forceps along the skin with the ends either side of the tick's
head, press down into the skin, and firmly grip the head of the tick.
Then steady traction can be applied perpendicular to the skin, without
twisting, until the tick is finally released. The aim is not to break
the tick so that mouth parts are left in the wound. If remnants do get
left behind use local anaesthetic and scrape them away carefully with a
scalpel blade. In a area of significant Lyme disease incidence,
amoxicillin or doxycycline for 10 days can be considered. If there is
significant paralysis then tick antivenom can be administered in
addition to supportive care. In UK, most common ticks on humans are
sheep tick (Ixodes ricinus), a vector of Lyme disease, and hedgehog
tick (Ixodes hexagonus). 2 Where there is tick infestation, bites can
be avoided by tucking trousers into boots and body should be searched
after leaving area to allow prompt removal of ticks which can reduce
risk of disease transmission
</quote>
