Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Relative sizes of blacklegged ticks at different life stages. In general, adult ticks are approximately the size of a sesame seed and nymphal ticks are approximately the size of a poppy seed.
Are there other ways to get Lyme disease? There is no evidence that Lyme disease is transmitted from person-to-person. For example, a person cannot get infected from touching, kissing, or having sex with a person who has Lyme disease. Untreated Lyme disease during pregnancy can lead to infection of the placenta. Spread from mother to fetus is possible but rare. Fortunately, with appropriate antibiotic treatment, there is no increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. There are no published studies assessing developmental outcomes of children whose mothers acquired Lyme disease during pregnancy.
Although no cases of Lyme disease have been linked to blood transfusion, scientists have found that the Lyme disease bacteria can live in blood that is stored for donation. Individuals being treated for Lyme disease with an antibiotic should not donate blood. Individuals who have completed antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease may be considered as potential blood donors. Information on the current criteria for blood donation is available on the Red Cross website external icon. Although dogs and cats can get Lyme disease, there is no evidence that they spread the disease directly to their owners.
However, pets can bring infected ticks into your home or yard. Consider protecting your pet, and possibly yourself, through the use of tick control products for animals. You will not get Lyme disease from eating venison or squirrel meat, but in keeping with general food safety principles, always cook meat thoroughly. Note that hunting and dressing deer or squirrels may bring you into close contact with infected ticks. There is no credible evidence that Lyme disease can be transmitted through air, food, water, or from the bites of mosquitoes, flies, fleas, or lice.
To give you technically accurate, evidence-based information, content published on the Everlywell blog is reviewed by credentialed professionals with expertise in medical and bioscience fields. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection most commonly associated with tick bites. Having Lyme disease can be concerning for a lot of reasons, but many people with Lyme disease wonder if they can potentially spread it to their loved ones.
So, is Lyme disease contagious, and should you get a Lyme disease test? Keep reading to find out. Lyme disease is caused by four different species of bacteria. Borrelia burgdorferi is the most common bacteria that causes Lyme disease in the United States. Lyme disease is transmitted to humans primarily through tick bites.
The bacteria has an incubation period of three to 30 days, resulting in a variety of symptoms that usually occur in stages that can overlap. The most common early symptom of Lyme disease is a rash.
Medically known as erythema migrans, this rash expands out from the tick bite area and can get as big as 12 inches in diameter. This rash is often accompanied by flu-like symptoms, including fever, headaches, muscle aches, and fatigue.
Left untreated, this tick-borne disease can lead to some severe symptoms. The Lyme infection can spread to the nerves, resulting in inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, damage to the nerves, impaired movement, and weakness in the limbs. It can affect the heart, resulting in heart palpitations and an irregular heartbeat.
As mentioned, Lyme disease is primarily spread by ticks, specifically the blacklegged tick also known as a deer tick. There are no known adverse effects associated with taking antibiotics for Lyme disease during pregnancy. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi , a spiral-shaped species of bacteria that wild animals, such as deer, can carry.
There are several subspecies of Borrelia bacteria worldwide. Another species of bacteria, called Borrelia mayonii, can also cause Lyme disease, but this is rare.
Lyme disease spreads through the bite of certain types of tick. Ticks are very small insects that feed on the blood of animals. When a tick feeds on blood that contains B. The tick then acts as a carrier for the bacteria.
In most parts of the U. Along the Pacific coast, however, the disease tends to spread via the western blacklegged tick Ixodes pacificus. Most humans with Lyme disease get it from immature ticks, or nymphs, which are less than 1 inch 2 millimeters in diameter and most active during late spring and summer. These ticks can be difficult to see, and they often favor warm, moist areas of the body, including the armpits, groin, and scalp.
Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose because it causes symptoms that are similar to those of many other illnesses.
Symptoms tend to appear around 3—30 days after the tick bite. The most recognizable symptom of Lyme disease is a skin rash that develops around the tick bite and resembles a target.
Doctors call this rash erythema migrans EM. EM begins as a small rash that may be warm to the touch, gradually expanding in size by up to 12 inches 30 centimeters. It usually appears within 7 days of a tick bite. Some other common signs and symptoms of Lyme disease that can occur with or without a rash include:. If they do suspect Lyme disease, they may order a Lyme disease blood test to confirm it. Lyme disease blood tests work by detecting Lyme antibodies, which can take several weeks to develop after a tick bite.
A single test does not always provide a clear diagnosis, so the CDC recommend that doctors perform two. If the first test is negative, a person does not have detectable Lyme antibodies in their blood. A person has a firm diagnosis when both tests give either positive or indeterminate results. It is worth noting that other viral, bacterial, and autoimmune conditions can sometimes cause false-positive results in Lyme disease blood tests.
Doctors treat early stage Lyme disease with antibiotics, such as doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime. Courses often last 2—4 weeks. Most people will feel better within a few weeks of Lyme disease treatment. Later stage Lyme disease can be more difficult to treat.
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