New tick worry

[Sarongman]

The medical establishment doesn't want to acknowlege the fact, but some doctors are now diagnosing Lyme disease in Australia, after sending samples to the U.S. for analysis. All the symptoms are pointing to this debilitating condition now being prevalent. Once, a tick bite was annoying, but non threatening, but now it's a different story. have any of our U.S. brethren had this disease?

[crfriend]

The medical establishment doesn't want to acknowlege the fact, but some doctors are now diagnosing Lyme disease in Australia, after sending samples to the U.S. for analysis.

That's not good, and I wonder what the intercontinental transmission-vector was.

I've not had it, although I did have a scare as I picked a tick off me a couple of years ago of the proper species and the disease is very common where I live. A good friend of mine has had it three times (since it's a parasitic infection, there's no immunity conferred by having had it once) and states that for him the primary symptom is akin to drunkenness but without the euphoria. The "diagnostic" "bulls-eye" rash sometimes does not show up, so one cannot rely on that alone. The best prevention is keeping the little blighters off you in the first place.

In the case of deer ticks -- the main vector in the northeast USA -- the tick needs to be engorged to the point where it's injecting stuff back into the host, and this typically takes 24 hours or so. So, if you get the buggers quickly it dramatically reduces the odds of transmission. This may not apply to other species of tick which might carry the parasite! Check with your local medic.

[skirtyscot]

They are a problem here in the UK as well. Sheep ticks, which I think are the same as deer ticks - we farm both animals in the same upland areas. Lyme disease is the risk. So far I've managed to avoid them. The Scottish weather helps, as it usually makes you cover up thoroughly!

[Big and Bashful]

I suppose that this highlights one drawback of being skirted, with the fabric being so loose there are more opportunities for nasty little bugs to get at your legs. The only real way to keep things off your legs tends to be trousers and stout socks. Having said that, when I was a child I remember having a tick somewhere rather near the sweetbreads, at that time I would have been wearing trousers of one length or another, so they are good at getting to you anyway. I haven't been ticked for a few years no but my cats occasionally come home with unwanted passengers, so they are around this area.

[RichardA]

My niece contected Lyme disease after a tick bite a few years ago