DCD – No need to warn about travel abroad after case of Lyme disease in Thailand

 

(Photo) Disease Control Department (DCD) director-general Dr. Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, Ministry of Public Health

 

There is no need for a travel advisory to be issued to warn Thai people against travelling abroad after the discovery of the first case of Lyme disease in Thailand, said Disease Control Department (DCD) director-general Dr. Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen on Monday.

 

Dr. Suwanchai’s comment was in response to a Facebook post by Dr. Manoon Leechawengwong revealing that a Thai lady, aged 47, had contracted Lyme disease, caused by the Borrelia bacteria, while on an overseas trip in Turkey.

 

He said that Lyme borreliosis is not a new disease, but Thai people are not familiar with it because the disease usually occurs abroad and is transferred by ticks carried by dogs, horses, deer, cattle and mice.  When the infected animals are bitten by the tick and the tick then bites a human, the bacteria can be transferred.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/dcd-no-need-to-warn-about-travel-abroad-after-case-of-lyme-disease-in-thailand/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-07-17

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Lovely.  My Dad had it about 4 times while living in a wooded area of northern New Jersey, USA. Sometimes they would see a dozen or more deer in their yard.

Is the article saying I may get Lyme disease from a tick in Thailand?

Lyme disease is not endemic in Thailand. Found in China and Japan, and across temperate Northern hemisphere. It was only properly identified less than 50 years ago. You can only catch it from a tick.

My god, ONE person contracted borrelia while in Turkey, and that makes news??? How many news articles like this one can we expect, now when Thais have discovered the dangerous world outside Thailand.