Lyme Disease

Lyme disease, originally called as lyme arthritis. It is recently described as syndrome. Its causative agent is a spirochetal agent, Borrelia burgdoferi. It is transmitted primarily by head tick of the genus lxodes. The adult tick reproductive phase of the cycle is completed on deer.

The natural host for B. burgdorferi are wild and domestic animals, including mice and other rodents, deer, sheep, cattle, horses and dogs. The larger animal hosts such as deer are probably more important in maintaining the size of the tick populations rather than acting as a major source of B. burgdorferi.

Lyme disease is normally non fatal but evolves into a slowly progressive syndrome that mimics neuromuscular and rheumatoid conditions. An early symptom in 70 % of cases is a rash at the site of a larval tick bite. Other early symptoms are fever, headache, stiff neck and dizziness.

If not treated or if treated too late, the disease can advance to the second stage, during which cardiac dysrhythmias and neurological symptoms such as facial palsy develop. 

After several weeks or months, a crippling poly arthritis can attack joints, especially in the european strain of the agent. Some people acquire chronic neurological complications that are severely disabling.