Colorado Tick Fever

• Coltivirus from ticks in spring and early summer

• Mountains or highlands regions of western states and western Canada that contain rocky surfaces with moderate shrub cover and scattered pines
   

• Acute and benign disease from getting bitten by a tick
   

• High fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Lethargy
   

• Seek medical attention from a physician
   

• Avoid tick-infested habitats during spring and early summer
• Use personal protection, such as wearing pants and shirts with long sleeves
   

Wild animals may behave unusually

• Dumb rabies: Causes tremors and convulsions
• Furious rabies: Causes aggressive behavior before convulsions and paralysis set in
• Behavioral changes:
  • Friendliness
  • Loss of fear
  • Appearance in the daytime (for nocturnal animals)
  • Unprovoked attacks
  • Bewilderment/aimless wandering
  • Unusual barking, crying and frothing at the mouth
     

• 50–200 cases reported each year
• 1438 cases reported between 1980–88, 63% in Colorado
• Also transmitted to chipmunks, ground squirrels and deer mice