In Bill Bryson's book called 'A Walk in the Woods' about his hiking the 2,100 mile long Appalachian Trail, he discusses the infections he could possibly pick up en route - such as Lyme disease - and this is what he says:
"No less arresting is Lyme disease, which comes from the bite of a deer tick smaller than a pin head. If undetected, it can lie dormant in the human body for years before erupting in a positive fiesta of maladies. This is a disease for the person who wants to experience it all. The symptoms begin with headaches, fatigue, fever, chills, shortness of breath, dizziness, and shooting pains in the extremities, then march on to cardiac irregularities, facial paralysis, muscle spasms, severe mental impairment, loss of control of body functions, and - not surprising in the circumstances - chronic depression."
Borrelia is the name of a group of bacteria, of which there are many species, over 300 I believe, some of which cause debilitating illness.
Borreliosis is the name of the disease caused by any infection associated with these bacteria. Lyme disease is one such illness but has a narrower definition and can only be caused by 3 strains of Borrelia so it can exclude many people with long term illness caused by the other strains.
Lyme disease was first recognised in the USA in 1975 when an outbreak occurred in Lyme, Connecticut, hence the name, however, the link between the Borrelia bacteria as a route cause of Lyme was not established until 1982 which is one of the reasons why many people, including doctors, don't know much about the illness.
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Some people who have borreliosis/Lyme have co-infections with other tick-borne pathogens such as babesia, erlichia or bartonella, and these cause illness too. Babesia are malarial-like protozoa which infect red blood cells, while the others are bacteria.
Borrelia bacteria are very large Spirochaetes with a long thin spiral type shape and are similar to syphilis. They exist in several forms including a dormant Cyst, Motile Spirochete and intracellular cell wall deficient forms. The Spirochaete is able to change to a different form when a threat occurs (e.g. from the immune system or antibiotics) making it very difficult to eradicate.
Borrelia can rapidly invade every type of tissue and every system in the body causing havoc in the host. Many symptoms are caused by Borrelia as it causes the immune system to produce Cytokines (chemical messengers that help to regulate the immune response) and it produces many biotoxins, mainly neurotoxins, which are attracted to many areas of the body such as the central nervous system, peripheral nerves, muscles, joints, lungs etc.
A known source of Borrelia is a tick bite from an infected tick. One bite is all you need from a tick the size of a pinhead which in many cases goes unnoticed. If you read about Lyme it often refers to Deer as being the main source of ticks especially in the USA hence the name American Deer Tick, here in the UK the most common tick is known as the Sheep Tick, no guesses as to where you find them but they can also be passed on by small creatures like mice and birds, however, one can safely assume that any animal could be a target for ticks including pets so beware.
Ticks are not the only transmitters any biting insect such as Mosquitos, Midges and Fleas are potential carriers of Borrelia.
Researchers are also looking at the possibility of Borrelia being transmitted from mother to baby via the placenta, in breast milk, between sexual partners and also via blood transfusions (see www.canlyme.com) although not yet widely accepted Borrelia has been isolated in human body fluids such as semen, tears and urine, unpasteurized cow's milk and even found in African dust.
Many people with ME, Fibromyalgia and CFS who are now being tested privately are finding they are infected with bacteria from the Borrelia species that cause Borreliosis or Lyme disease. It wouldn't be surprising if a very significant percentage of those currently with a diagnosis of ME/CFS are actually infected with Borrelia or similar bacteria. An email group poll showed that 80% of those with a diagnosis of Borreliosis or Lyme disease had a previous diagnosis of ME/CFS.