The best way is to dry it out. If you have a branch/stick that can fit in your oven then great! Toss that into your oven around 250°F for an hour or so and you're good to go. Be careful though since that is a VERY general idea. Your exact timing and even temperature can vary widely, as much as 100° and/or half an hour. A better rule is to check density of your wood. Denser wood will do with a low temperature for longer while lighter wood shouldn't take so long.
Of course if you start to see a little smoke starting then take it out immediately. You don't want your oven catching fire. As we all know, wood burns.
Alternately you can use a handheld steamer to steam the outside, effectively cooking the outside of the stick. This doesn't take care of the inside though. For small sticks you can boil them in a large pot for hours. This should get rid of any problems but then you have the problem of drying it so you might as well just have put it in the oven.
I don't have a seven foot oven or a huge cauldron though and no steamer and so I have to go the chemical and scrubbing route. This branch of an oak already has some house guests holding on. and a few bugs living under the bark. First off I used a bug killer and am letting it sit for a few days. Once that's nice and aired for a while I'm going to douse it with rubbing alcohol until nice and saturated. Of course I'll be keeping it away from any ignition sources for a while until it all evaporates away but this should kill or drive off anything that the bug spray didn't. Then after a nice scrubbing with a bristle or wire brush it should be ready for use.
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