Lyme disease or borreliosis, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia. The infection is carried by ticks which are parasitic on mammals such as mice and deer.
Ticks generally acquire Borrelia from infected small mammals such as the white-footed mouse.
Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the Northern Hemisphere. It is estimated to affect 300,000 people a year in the United States and 65,000 people a year in Europe.
An expanding rash is an initial sign of about 80% of Lyme infections. The rash often looks like a "bull's eye" (see below).
Lyme disease symptoms may include joint swelling, rashes, fever, chills, severe headaches with neck stiffness, heart palpitations and neurological disorders.
Lyme disease was diagnosed as a separate condition for the first time in 1975 in Old Lyme, Connecticut -hence the name.
Lyme disease was not as common in the past as it is now, and its prevalence is actually due to an explosion in the white-footed mouse population at the turn of the 20th century. This in turn coincides with the extinction of the mouse's primary ecological competitor: the passenger pigeon.
The deer tick (below) is the primary vector of Lyme disease in eastern North America. In Europe, the principal vector is the sheep tick.
Lyme Disease is far less prevalent in the west coast of the US thanks, in part, to the Western Fence Lizard which carries a protein that cures the disease in the ticks that bite them, thereby reducing the probability of infection to humans and other tick hosts.
The singer Avril Lavigne was struck down in the second half of 2014 with Lyme disease,. "I had no idea a bug bite could do this. I was bedridden for five months," she revealed to People. "I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying. There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand. It felt like having all your life sucked out of you."
Justin Bieber announced on his Instagram on January 8, 2020, that he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease.
Ticks generally acquire Borrelia from infected small mammals such as the white-footed mouse.
Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the Northern Hemisphere. It is estimated to affect 300,000 people a year in the United States and 65,000 people a year in Europe.
An expanding rash is an initial sign of about 80% of Lyme infections. The rash often looks like a "bull's eye" (see below).
Lyme disease symptoms may include joint swelling, rashes, fever, chills, severe headaches with neck stiffness, heart palpitations and neurological disorders.
Lyme disease was diagnosed as a separate condition for the first time in 1975 in Old Lyme, Connecticut -hence the name.
Lyme disease was not as common in the past as it is now, and its prevalence is actually due to an explosion in the white-footed mouse population at the turn of the 20th century. This in turn coincides with the extinction of the mouse's primary ecological competitor: the passenger pigeon.
The deer tick (below) is the primary vector of Lyme disease in eastern North America. In Europe, the principal vector is the sheep tick.
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| By See source - A New View on Lyme Disease Wikipedia |
Lyme Disease is far less prevalent in the west coast of the US thanks, in part, to the Western Fence Lizard which carries a protein that cures the disease in the ticks that bite them, thereby reducing the probability of infection to humans and other tick hosts.
The singer Avril Lavigne was struck down in the second half of 2014 with Lyme disease,. "I had no idea a bug bite could do this. I was bedridden for five months," she revealed to People. "I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk and I couldn't move. I thought I was dying. There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand. It felt like having all your life sucked out of you."
Justin Bieber announced on his Instagram on January 8, 2020, that he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease.
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