In message , Klara
writes
I
- I just hope we don't have too many at
Norwich!!!

Norwich, UK? As I recall parts of East Anglia are among the UK hotpots
for Lyme Disease, but I imagine you should be safe enough in the city
of Norwich.

Here's the (not too encouraging) distribution map:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no4/smithG.htm

Just realised that that map is old - in Lyme disease terms - so the
reality might be much worse.

As a guide to estimating the prevalence of deer ticks and Lyme disease,
I wonder whether this wonderful bit of research could be translated into
UK conditions?

From the New York Times:

A map showing results from the last presidential election is "remarkably
similar" to a map of the distribution of cases of Lyme disease, a brief
article in the current Lancet medical journal points out.

The 19 "blue states" - those won by Senator John Kerry - account for 95
percent of the cases of Lyme disease reported in 2002, they wrote. The
disease, caused by bacteria that are carried by deer ticks, is
concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.

An accompanying letter, from Dr. Robert B. Nadelman and Dr. Gary P.
Wormser, epidemiologists at the New York Medical College at Valhalla,
also pointed out that many of the cases reported in "red states" were
probably something else. The illness there is usually preceded by the
bite of the Lone Star tick, which cannot transmit the bacteria that
causes Lyme disease, although it produces a rash that is identical. The
two doctors suggest naming the disorder Stari, for southern
tick-associated rash illness.

Lyme disease is spreading faster than Stari, Dr. Nadelman said. On the
other hand, the last three Democrats elected to the White House were
from states where Stari is dominant, while three of the four most recent
losing candidates came from Lyme disease states.

Dr. Nadelman concluded, "We do not believe, however, that tick-borne
diseases are likely to be a major factor in the 2008 presidential
election."


--
Klara, Gatwick basin