It was first identified in the 1970s in Lyme, Connecticut in the United States. It is transmitted by a tick bite infected with a bacterium of the “Borrelia” family (Lyme disease is a Borreliosis).
It affects wild animals such as wild boars, deer, small rodents, dogs, cats and also in humans.
According to CiTIQUE-TRACKER, which follows the evolution of reports of tick bites in France, 45% of bites took place in the forest. Ticks live in wooded and humid areas, in tall prairie grasses, in gardens and in forest and urban parks. The most frequent human contaminations occur between the beginning of spring and the end of autumn.
In some cases, the infection can lead to a sometimes debilitating disease, the body falling prey to terrible pain. “All my muscles ached. Night and day, without giving me any respite”, testified in our pages, an Azurean in 2019. Lyme disease can also, in the absence of treatment, lead to joint and skin disorders and even partial paralysis.
Within 30 days of being bitten, a rounded, red patch that circles around the area (erythema migrans) may appear.
In animals, the disease can cause fever and lead to a limp due to severe joint and muscle pain. Other symptoms may also occur such as depression, anorexia, or gasping breathing.
The presence of ticks in the days preceding the symptoms is a clue.
This disease is not contagious.
Within 30 days of being bitten, a rounded, red patch that circles around the area (erythema migrans) may appear. Photo Istock.
What role does this new vaccine play?
While the disease is today combated by antibiotic treatment, an experiment is currently being carried out around a vaccine track by Inrae (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment), l ANSES (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) and the National Veterinary School of Alfort.
The aim of the vaccine is to target the microbiota (all micro-organisms living in a given ecosystem) of the tick where the “Borrelia” bacterium finds refuge. By injecting a dose of vaccine into the body of a human or animal, antibodies would then be produced.
If a tick bite occurred next, the antibodies would modify the tick’s microbiota so that it carried less Borrelia.
Although we are still a long way from being put on the market, the first results, carried out for the moment on mice, show a drop in the quantity of Borrelia in the ticks that bit the mice in the experiment.
Could it help cure other illnesses?
This is the other good news from this vaccine track which attacks the microbiota. It might also be useful in other diseases, such as Zika, dengue or malaria, which are transmitted by mosquitoes.
