"Ticks live in urban areas too," said Vikentjeva, chief specialist at the Health Board's Department of Communicable Diseases. "It's not just people in the countryside who are encountering ticks – these days, city folks are coming in contact with ticks too."

Tick season is halfway over. "We know there are somewhat fewer ticks right now, because of the heat," she noted.

In Estonia, the most well known human diseases caused by human transmission of infectious agents via tick bite are tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme disease, but the pathogens that cause ehrlichiosis and babesiosis have been identified in ticks in the region as well.

While the Health Board does track cases of ehrlichiosis, it does not currently maintain statistics on babesiosis cases.

"Doctors diagnose it, but it isn't registered with us at the Health Board, and we don't publish statistics about it," Vikentjeva explained.

She noted that neither ehrlichiosis nor babesiosis are actually new diseases. "But they are very rare, as the infectious agents that cause these diseases are very rarely present in ticks," she added.

If someone has been bitten by a tick, it should be removed as quickly as possible.

The Health Board expert stressed that nothing should be applied to or around the tick before it is removed, nor should anyone attempt to remove it with their fingers, explaining that thread or tweezers or similar should be used instead, so that the tick can be removed as closely as possible to its head.

It's common for the skin surrounding the site of a tick bite to initially be red. Vikentjeva said, however, that if the site of the bite turns very red after a couple of days, it's time to see a doctor.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!