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Tick-Bite Aware
21 April 2012

Tick-Bite Aware

With the approaching summer weather, blood-sucking ticks are gearing up in forests and heaths to prey on unsuspecting ramblers and dog-walkers. An estimated 0.5% of ticks in England and Wales are infected with the Lyme disease-causing bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, pictured here (in green) deep inside the gut of a tick. The corkscrew-shaped bacterium was discovered thirty years ago by Willy Burgdorfer when he noticed movements inside the tissue of dissected ticks. Britain has until now been spared the epidemic levels of Borrelia infection seen in parts of continental Europe and North America, but climate change and increased travel may have introduced infected non-native ticks. Cases of Lyme’s disease have trebled from 2003 to 2010 (to 905). Underreporting due to lack of awareness could mean the real figure is closer to 3,000.

Written by Tristan Farrow

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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