European countries report a far higher incidence of Lyme disease than the UK; why is this?

Lyme disease is an emerging disease in the UK. The proportion of UK ticks infected is on average about 6 in every hundred, whereas in some European countries it is over 50 per hundred [1]. Although it has been known about in Europe for more than a century, the first confirmed case in the UK was reported in 1985. It seems likely that the Borrelia bacteria were present in UK wildlife well before that, but we don’t know. The bacteria are now spreading though wildlife and the proportion of ticks infected is probably gradually increasing [2].

References

  1. Estrada-Peña A  et al. An updated meta-analysis of the distribution and prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in ticks in Europe. Int J Health Geogr. 2018;17(1):1–16.
  2. Lindgren E, Jaenson T. Lyme borreliosis in Europe : influences of climate and climate change, epidemiology, ecology and adaption measures. World Health Organisation. 2006;EUR/04/504.
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