The Ecology of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe

Abstract

The most common tick in Europe, the castor bean or sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus has been incriminated as a vector of the cause of the disease now referred to as Lyme borreliosis, ever since Dr. Arvid Afzelius in 1910 described, at the site of a tick bite on an elderly lady, the development of a skin lesion he referred to as erythema migrans. Since the etiology of this skin disorder was unknown, it was speculated that it might be a tick-associated toxin or infectious agent. The toxin hypothesis appeared unlikely because of the chronic nature of the disease. Lipschütz in 1923 suggested that the cause was associated with the tick bite and emphasized microscopic-bacteriologic investigations of the ticks’ intestinal tract and salivary gland secretion. Similarly, Hellerström in 1950, referring to the demonstration of his colleague Carl Lennhoff of spirochete-like elements in skin sections of erythema migrans lesions, pointed to the possibility that this disease may be caused by tick-associated spirochetes.KeywordsLyme DiseaseCastor BeanBorrelia BurgdorferiLyme BorreliosisIxodes RicinusThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.