Babesiosis

Effective treatments do exist for babesiosis, but people who do not have symptoms of the disease usually do not need to be treated.

Other tick-borne illnesses islanders should be aware of include anaplasmosis, babesiosis, tularemia, borrelia mayonii and miyamotoi, ehrlichiosis, powassan disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI).

Mather anticipates that the number of anaplasmosis and babesiosis cases reported at the end of this year will be higher than 2023, largely because there will be a full 12 months of data to pull from and more awareness about the pathogens.

Both are very rare in the UK; it is the first time a case of babesiosis acquired in the UK has been recorded and only the second instance of a UK-acquired case of TBE.

Health chiefs are warning Brits to stay wary after confirming a case of babesiosis and a probable case of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

PHE say they tested hundreds of ticks at sites in Devon close to where the person with babesiosis lives, but all had tested negative.