Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness, so understanding the lifecycle of a tick is key to avoiding infection.

Illustration 1: A Tick's Lifecycle (Source: CDC website)

A tick’s lifecycle

Ticks contract the Lyme disease bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) during their larval and nymphal stages by feeding on infected rodents and birds that carry the bacteria in their blood.
Ticks take up to two years to complete their lifecycle in the natural environment. The exact timing depends on the tick species and the prevailing climactic conditions, with warmer temperatures generally leading to more rapid development. Illustration 1 shows that humans and their pets are more likely to encounter ticks during the spring or autumn than during the summer or deep winter, but once again, the exact season of risk varies according to geographical location.

How ticks infect people

Once a tick feeds on a Borrelia-infected host, it carries the bacteria in its belly (technically referred to as its ‘midgut’). When the tick starts to feed, the bacteria migrate from the midgut to the salivary glands, where they can be injected into the new host’s bloodstream. Hence, the longer a tick feeds on you without detection, the higher the risk of contracting Lyme disease.

As shown in Illustration 2, a tick can become infected with Borrelia in two ways:

    1. By drinking the blood of an infected host
    2. By retaining an infection acquired during a previous developmental stage

It is frequently stated that one is more likely to acquire the bacterium from an infected nymph than from an infected larva or adult. But this is due merely to circumstance rather than relative infectivity.

Larvae do not transmit the bacterium to any host because any bacteria found in an infected adult female do not get incorporated into the eggs. In any case, in the wild, larvae normally feed only on small rodents. But infected nymphs and infected adults are equally capable of transmitting Lyme to humans. It’s just that nymphal ticks are very small (about the size of a poppy seed), so we are less likely to notice one feeding on us until they’ve grown to a larger size, by which time they are more likely to have transmitted the decease.

Feeding ticks secrete a local anaesthetic from their salivary glands, so that a host is less likely to notice that it has been bitten. This is why a thorough visual search for ticks at the end of a walk in the woods is so important.

Illustration 2: How Lyme Spreads

Other modes of transmission

In addition to transmission by ticks, it’s possible to contract Lyme disease from blood-sucking insects, but this is extremely rare and probably accounts for less than 1% of Lyme cases.

Some researchers believe that Lyme can also be transmitted in several other ways (via any route by which blood or tissue from an infected host may enter the body). However, these studies haven’t yet been confirmed.

Lyme may also be transmitted by:

  • Contaminated blood transfusions
  • During pregnancy
  • Fluid exchange during intercourse
  • Exposure to feces from animals/people infected with Borrelia

Lyme disease is preventable and treatable. If you think you have been bitten by a tick, seek medical attention immediately.