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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
In the United States, the Lyme disease bacterium is carried primarily by deer ticks. The ticks are brown and often no bigger than the head of the pin, which can make them nearly impossible to spot.
Ticks attach themselves to a host and feed on the host's blood until they're swollen to many times their normal size. During feeding, ticks that carry disease-producing bacteria can transmit the bacteria to a healthy host. Or, if the host is infected, they may pick up bacteria themselves.
Deer ticks typically feed on the blood of mice, small birds and deer, but they can also feed on the blood of humans, cats, dogs and horses. They live in low bushes and tall grasses of wooded areas, waiting for warm-blooded animals to pass by. Deer ticks are most active in the summer.
To contract Lyme disease, you must be bitten by an infected deer tick. The bacteria enter your skin through the bite and eventually make their way into your bloodstream. Before bacteria can be transmitted, a deer tick must take a blood meal, which can take more than 48 hours of feeding. Only ticks that are attached to your skin and are feeding can transmit the bacteria. An attached tick that has a swollen appearance may indicate that enough time has elapsed to transmit bacteria. Removing the tick as soon as possible may prevent infection.
- Hu L. Treatment of Lyme disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- Hu L. Clinical manifestations of Lyme disease in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- Lyme disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/index.htm. Accessed March 24, 2010.
- FDA warns consumers and health care providers not to use bismacine, also known as chromacine. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm150503.htm. Accessed March 29, 2010.
- Wormser GP, et al. The clinical assessment, treatment and prevention of Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis and babesiosis: Clinical practice guidelines. Infectious Disease Society of America. 2006;43:1089.
- Lyme disease. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/lymeDisease/understanding/. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- Lyme disease: The facts, the challenge. www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/lymeDisease/PDF/LymeDisease.pdf. Accessed March 29, 2010.
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