According to the Health Protection Agency, up to 3,000 people contract Lyme disease (Borreliosis) from the bite of an infected tick each year in the UK.  This can develop from a small red patch around the bite, to a rash, high temperature and joint pains which can be prevented by prompt use of antibiotics. So see your GP if you have red areas around a known tick bite.

The parasites can be found anywhere from remote moorland to urban gardens and are most active from April to October. They are found locally around East Anglia in wooded areas such as Thetford forest as well as gardens.  They prefer moist areas such as long grasses or under leaves, and can be carried by deer.

There are NO vaccines to prevent Lyme disease which is a debilitating disease, and if ignored can cause a reactive arthritis, inflammation of the heart and long term debility.  The only prevention is to cover up – long trousers, clothing spray and insect repellents. 

The only way to remove a tick is to use fine toothed forceps or blade to gently ease the tick out of the skin or a commercial tick remover such as sold by The Travel Clinic Ltd.  If you use burning, alcohol or Vaseline, the tick squirts out the infected bacteria before it dies, and so infection occurs.

There is a large increase in tick-borne disease due to climate change, and a potentially fatal illness is Tick-borne Encephalitis, causing inflammation of the brain. This infection is spreading globally from France through Germany and Austria, where it is a huge problem and the local population are vaccinated against the disease. It has spread throughout the Baltic States and into China, also further South into the Mediterranean areas.

Catch Mary Kedward Managing Director as she discusses Lyme’s disease on Radio Cambridgeshire -- Jeremy Sallis breakfast show http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00fx2kf  -  found at 9:22 and 1:48 minutes into the playing of the podcast