Infected ticks can carry a variety of diseases.
The most common is Lyme borreliosis, due to a bacterium that usually lives on small wild rodents, foxes, hares and blackbirds. The initial phase of this disease is usually characterized by a non-itchy red rash, similar to a circular spot that tends to expand from the tick inoculation site. Within a few weeks, muscle and joint pain, exhaustion, chills, fever, headache and swollen lymph nodes develop. Early intervention is essential: neurological complications can occur and, if appropriate therapy (generally based on antibiotics) is not used, Lyme disease can also lead to death.
Tick-borne meningoencephalitis (Tick -Bornne Encephalitis, TBE) is an acute viral disease that can easily be confused with a trivial flu, as it causes slight fever, headache, muscle pain 7-14 days after bite. However, if neglected, it can determine the involvement of the central nervous system (encephalitis and flaccid paralysis), sometimes with lethal outcome. Often, the disease makes hospitalization necessary. A vaccine is available in risk areas.
The most common rickettsiosis in Italy is the so-called bottonosa fever of the Mediterranean, a disease characterized precisely by fever, which lasts from a few days to two weeks, and a rash all over the body. The name "bottonosa" derives from the fact that, at the point of inoculation of the tick, a small ulcer may appear with a central black area and a red halo (escara nerastra). The course is usually benign. The disease heals in a few days with antibiotic treatment.
Other less frequent diseases are recurrent tick fever (borreliosis), Q fever, tularemia, erlichiosis, babesiosis and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Ticks are also able to cause allergic reactions and a rare form of paralysis extended to the whole body (normally, it is sufficient to remove the parasite to regress the disorders).
