Health Care Providers: Treatment & Prevention

Treatment

There are no medications to treat Colorado tick fever (CTF) virus infections; clinical management is supportive. Patients with severe symptoms may need to be hospitalized for intravenous fluids and medications to reduce pain and fever.

Prevention

No CTF virus vaccines are available for use in people. In the absence of a vaccine, prevention of CTF depends on personal protective measures to decrease exposure to infected ticks. This includes avoiding wooded and bushy areas with high grass in endemic areas, using repellents to discourage tick attachment, and finding and removing ticks before they have a chance to attach. More information about reducing exposure to ticks is available on the CDC Ticks website.

CTF virus can be transmitted through blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants. People with confirmed CTF virus infections should not donate blood or bone marrow for 6 months after their illness. CTF virus infections temporally associated with blood transfusion or bone marrow transplant should be reported promptly to the appropriate state health department.