A concise overview on tick-borne human infections in Europe: a focus on Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne Rickettsia spp.

Abstract

Ticks are blood-feeding external parasites of mammals. Almost all ticks belong to one of two major families, the Ixodidae or hard ticks, and the Argasidae or soft ticks. Ticks are responsible of transmitting many diseases called ‘tick-borne diseases'. Borrelia and Rickettsia spp., are the most important tick-transmitted bacterial pathogens circulating in Europe. In this review we will focus on the two tick-borne diseases caused by these bacterial pathogens, their vector, epidemiology, clinical diagnosis and symptoms.