'She could barely walk': See the paralyzing effects of a tick bite

In a video posted to Facebook, Amanda Lewis’s daughter Evelyn is seen crying and struggling to stand up, despite encouragement and help from her parents. (Facebook/Amanda Lewis via Storyful)

A mother in Oregon is warning other parents to check their kids and family pets for ticks, after her young daughter experienced a terrifying episode of tick paralysis.

In a video posted to Facebook on May 13, Amanda Lewis’s daughter Evelyn is seen crying and struggling to stand up, despite encouragement and help from her parents.

“She could barely walk, or crawl, and could hardly use her arms,” Lewis wrote in her Facebook post, which has since been shared more than 616,000 times and has generated nearly 40,000 comments.

Lewis said she and her husband took Evelyn to a hospital, where she was seen quickly in the ER. The doctor who saw Evelyn told them he suspected that the girl was bitten by a tick based on his 15 years of experience with other children her age, who presented identical symptoms from what turned out to be tick paralysis.

“They looked her over, combed through her hair really well and sure enough found a tick hiding in her hair,” Lewis wrote.

After the tick was removed, Evelyn started feeling much better. In an update to her original post, Lewis said her daughter was “back to her feisty little self” within a few days.

“My husband and I are still in shock that this happened to our baby girl and I'm glad we were able to spread some awareness about this,” Lewis wrote. “It's not terribly common for this to happen but it's good to be aware that if your children or pets start having weakness in their limbs to look for a tick!”

Tick paralysis is a rare condition that can affect both humans and animals. It is caused by a toxin released by certain types of ticks.

According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, the species causing the most cases of human tick paralysis in Canada are Dermacentor andersoni (known as the Rocky Mountain wood tick) and Dermacentor variabilis (the American dog tick).

Unlike Lyme disease, which is also spread by ticks, tick paralysis is not reportable in Canada so official case counts are not available.

Tick paralysis affects children more often than adults.

The BC Centre for Disease Control says symptoms of tick paralysis begin after a female tick attaches itself to the host’s skin and feeds on blood for several days. Initial symptoms may include numbness and tingling in the face and limbs, fatigue, weakness and muscle pains. The symptoms can then progress to partial or complete paralysis, starting from the legs and moving upwards.

The agency recommends a careful examination of the entire body for ticks, including combing the hair with a fine-tooth comb. Ticks should be carefully removed with clean tweezers, ensuring that the insect’s entire body is removed from the skin.

Afterwards, the site of the bite should be washed with soap and water or disinfected with alcohol or hand sanitizer, the Public Health Agency of Canada says. In cases of illness, the federal government encourages people to save the removed ticks and submit them for testing.