Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease spread from animals to humans. There are tick-borne diseases in Australia, but no Lyme disease in Australia.
Lyme disease exists in North America and it is very common in Europe, especially in forested areas. So when people build their houses into forest areas, they can catch it from a deer. Symptoms of the disease include fatigue, muscle pain and in rare serious cases, cerebral problem as well.
Most of the people who get infected don’t have any symptoms at all, while some people do. As I said earlier, it’s not in Australia, but some people do come back from overseas. Remember the days where we used to go overseas? Sometimes people can come back from overseas with Lyme disease and its symptoms, there’s a particular rash that you can get with it too.
If you think you are having odd symptoms after being overseas. These include being fatigued more often normal, having an odd rash, headaches or muscle pains, then you need to talk to your GP. You need to be alert to the possibility you may have Lyme disease. Otherwise you do not catch this disease in Australia.
Dr Norman Swan, Physician and Journalist
