Yale Researchers Studying Rare Yet Expanding Tick-Borne Disease

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health are studying babesiosis, a tick-borne illness that is less common and less well known than Lyme disease, but potentially deadly.  According to researchers, the number of babesiosis cases is increasing. 

Some facts about babesiosis:

• Both babesiosis and Lyme are transmitted by the same tick species, but the two diseases are caused by different microorganisms.
• Ticks acquire the microorganisms that cause babesiosis or Lyme from mice; some mice or ticks carry the microorganisms that cause both diseases.
• Babesiosis infects red blood cells.
• Its symptoms may be mild or quite severe: its fatality rate is 6 to 9 percent in hospitalized patients.
• The incidence of babesiosis is close to that of Lyme on Block Island and southeastern Connecticut, whereas the ratio of Lyme to babesiosis cases is about 25 to 1 nationally.