Communicable Disease Control Home Page Factsheet Lyme disease Images used have been obtained from the website of the Department of Medical Entymology , University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital, Australia. A link to this website can be found at the end of this page. Lyme disease is very rare in the UK, however this disease is mostly found in people who have visited areas where ticks are present. In the UK this is the New Forest, the Highlands, Exmoor and areas where there is high humidity in leaf litter or dead vegetation as well as the required animals.
Ticks feed on a range of animals such as fieldmice, voles, sheep, deer and horses.
There is a wide range of symptoms which can be divided into 3 stages. This occurs within 2-30 days after the bite . An expanding red ring develops around the site of the bite. This may be accompanied by a general rash and a fever. Early-disseminated Lyme disease Which can affect the skin, cardiac, nervous and musculoskeletal systems.