Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is a dangerous disease and it can be carried by ticks.  Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria that is carried in the saliva of an infected tick.  When you get bitten by a tick, it stays in your skin while it sucks up your blood. This process takes 48-96 hours and then the tick can regurgitate the blood into the wound and this is how the infected saliva enters the body. 

This is why it is very important to remove the tick as soon as possible.  Not all ticks are infected and there are regional and seasonal variations.

Ticks are removed from the base, making sure that you do not squeeze the body as this will push the infected blood into the person, increasing the risk of infection.

Signs of Lyme disease are not always that obvious and immediate.  An initial sign is a bulls eye like skin rash where the bite occurred. This is not always the case and can appear slightly different.  Some people may have no symptoms and others may show some of the following over a period of up to a month after the bite.

Nausea;
Rash about 2-40 days after the infection;
Severe headaches;
Tiredness;
Flu like conditions;
Muscle and joint pain
And finally, feeling generally very unwell.

The treatment if you think someone has Lyme disease consult a doctor immediately.