Lyme Disease: Disease Control
(asked on 21st June 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to monitor and control the spread of Lyme disease by dog walkers.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted between animals and humans by infected ticks. Dogs can pick up infected ticks outdoors and bring them into the home or garden, which could lead to Lyme disease in any bitten human. There is no evidence to show that Lyme disease can be transmitted from person-to-person, therefore dog walkers cannot contribute to the spread of the disease.
Public Health England (PHE) provides advice to the public on being tick aware, how to remove ticks and the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease. This information is available through the GOV.UK website and is relevant to dog walkers as well as the general public and can be used by local authorities in their own advice. PHE has also helped revise the patient advice on NHS Choices and the Government website contains links to Lyme disease information.