Lyme Disease Facts
- Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.
- It can be transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected tick.
- It has a clinical diagnosis.
- It cannot be confidently ruled out by any current test.
- It can be difficult to diagnose
- Lyme disease symptoms overlap with those of many other diseases.
- Early symptoms may include headache, fatigue, fever, facial palsy and a skin rash called erythema migrans.
- It may spread to affect the whole body including eyes, joints, heart and brain.
- If inadequately treated or treated late, it may be difficult to cure.
- Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics.
- Lyme disease was named in 1975, after a number of cases occurred in Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA.
- Lyme disease is not a new disease, it was known in mainland Europe under different names in the early 20th century and the bacterium was carried by Neolithic “Ötzi the Iceman”.
- The first confirmed case in the UK was reported in 1985.
- Lyme disease-carrying ticks can be found throughout the UK in urban parks and gardens as well as in the countryside, but the % of infected ticks is (at the moment) much lower than in most of Europe.
- Lyme disease is not spelt Lymes disease, Limes disease or Lime disease.
- Lyme disease may also be called Lyme borreliosis.
- Lyme disease has lots of unknowns, see JLA Process