Ticks Carrying Lyme Disease Spreading New Illness? BMD Sends One-Quarter of Patients To Hospital

A new type of illness brought about by ticks is said to be more serious than Lyme disease.

Another type of tick-transmitted disease called Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD) is making rounds in the northeastern part of the Unnited States. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine states that the disease was first identified in 2013.

BMD is similar to Lyme disease since it causes flu-like symptoms i.e. headache, muscle pain, fever and chills. However, unlike Lyme disease, BMD can lead to meningoencephalitis, a serious brain inflammation, according to WebMD.

Due to its serious nature, nearly a fourth of the patients who are diagnosed with this new tick-borne illness require admittance in a hospital. Fortunately, the disease can be treated with a round of antibiotics especially if diagnosed early.

"This is an emerging infection and a lot of people and doctors have not heard about it," said study author Dr. Philip Molloy, physician and medical director at IMUGEN, Inc.

For their research, Molloy and colleagues analyzed the blood samples of more than 11,000 patients from health care facilities in New York and in New England.

They reviewed 51 of the 97 cases confirmed to have BMD infections and found that a quarter of the patients with the disease were hospitalized. The researchers concluded that BMD may be an emerging tick-borne illness in the northeastern part of the United States.

"This is an important paper," Dr. Peter J. Krause, a senior research scientist from Yale School of Medicine and the editorial writer of the study, told Today.com.

Many patients could be exhibiting similar symptoms to Lyme but tested negative and this could be because doctors aren't aware of BMD.

"Until recently, no one was even looking for BMD in this country," Krause added. "We know now it's in this country and it has probably been here for a long time."

The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the agent responsible for spreading BMD. According to Molloy, the tick has to attach itself to the skin for about a day for the germs to access the blood stream.

There are ways to lower the risk of getting the new disease. When going to grassy or wooded areas, it is recommended to wear protective clothing and use insect repellent.

"Ticks are going to be at the edges of the path where there may be tall grasses," Dr. Bobbi Pritt, of Mayo Clinic, told CBS News. "By staying in the middle of the path, that's one way to just stay away from where ticks would be."