Routine Care & Wellness

Lyme Disease Information
Lyme disease is spread by bite of ticks of genus Ixodes that are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Ixodes ticks are smaller than common dog and cattle ticks. In larval and nymph stages, they’re no bigger than a pinhead.

Ticks attach to any body part, but prefer hidden, hairy areas like groin, armpits, and scalp. Most transmission occurs in nymph stage, because they are small and not easily noticed. Ticks are most likely to transmit infection after approximately 2 or more days of attachment and feeding.

The life cycle of the tick is as follows:

  1. Tick eggs hatch into larva during the summer months.
  2. Larva feeds on small birds and mammals through early fall.
  3. Larva are inactive until spring.
  4. They molt into nymphs in the spring.

No Lyme disease transmission has ever been documented from exposure to blood transfusions, body fluids, sexual contact or from air, food or water.





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