TV presenter and survivalist Ray Mears is spearheading a new campaign to raise awareness about tick bites and Lyme disease.

Speaking at the start of tick bite prevention week today, he said not enough people know about Lyme disease.

Cases of Lyme disease are increasing in the UK – the Health Protection Agency believes there may be as many as 3,000 cases a year.

There were 18 laboratory- confirmed cases of Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) in Welsh residents in 2008 – the latest figures available.


Confirmed cases in England and Wales have risen from 813 in 2008 to 973 in 2009. About 80% of infections are acquired in the UK.

Mears, who is patron of the tick-borne disease charity BADA-UK and who has suffered Lyme disease, said: “When you’re outside in the mild weather, protect yourself and your family from tick bites and reduce your risk of Lyme disease.

“I feel that there is not enough awareness of Lyme disease in this country, given the fact that in rare cases it may become chronic.”

Amelia Parry developed Lyme disease after she was bitten by an infected tick while sitting in her garden at her home near Aberystwyth last April.

Within 24 hours she experienced “excruciating” pain in her back and legs – she had been bitten repeatedly on her right leg.

The following day she saw a GP and was prescribed massive doses of antibiotics. Her leg had swollen to twice its normal size and she had a “bullseye” rash.

Mrs Parry, 62, who was forced to give up her job as a hotel receptionist because of her illness, said: “The swelling didn’t go completely after the antibiotics and a week to 10 days later I started to feel unwell and knew there was something wrong.

“I didn’t have any get up and go and after about a month of this I went to see my pharmacist who said they thought it was Lyme disease and urged me to see my GP.

“I was fortunate because my doctor was from New Zealand and had done a lot of training in Inverness – he gave me the right antibiotics, which I was on for a month and that was it.

“I occasionally ache all over when I get up in the morning and I now make sure I wear long trousers, socks, wellies and keep my arms covered when I’m outdoors.”

Lyme disease is caused by the bite of infected Ixodid ticks – woodland and heathland areas in southern and south-western England, the Lake District, the Scottish Highlands and Islands, North York moors, Thetford Forest and the South Downs are considered high-risk areas.

Lyme disease is also widespread in Europe, from southern Scandinavia to northern Spain and Portugal and east to many central and eastern European countries.

The most common symptom of Lyme disease – and often the only symptom – is a slowly expanding pink or reddish rash called erythema migrans, which gradually extends slowly outwards from the site of the tick bite. This resembles a distinctive bullseye pattern.

Some patients may also have flu-like symptoms in the first two to four weeks of infection, with a temperature, muscle and joint aches and pains.

If left untreated Lyme disease can affect the nervous system, leading to facial palsy, viral-like meningitis and radiculitis, which is a nerve inflammation that can lead to pain, disturbance of sensation or clumsiness of movement.

Mrs Parry added: “I’d seen ticks on sheep and had dogs with ticks but I’d never thought about humans getting them.”

Julie Barratt, director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, said: “As the weather gets warmer and we do more outdoors its is particularly important to be vigilant for the presence of ticks.

“The impact of Lyme disease, or indeed any tick-borne illness on an individual and on their families can be enormous. Taking a few precautions is all that is needed.

“Simple things like wearing long trousers, checking yourself and your pets for ticks, removing embedded ticks properly, looking for tick bites and the bullseye rash that may accompany them and seeking treatment as quickly as possible are simple and sensible steps to avoid tick-borne disease.”