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Ticks bite record numbers in Switzerland: report

Xinhua, August 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Some 21,900 people visited a doctor through the end of July this year after having being bitten by a tick, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported Monday.

According to FOPH's bulletin, this represents the highest number of medical consultations caused by tick bites since statistics of this nature were first compiled in 2008.

This figure also vastly surpasses the 14,300 medical visits linked to tick bites which were recorded by authorities over the course of last year.

FOPH revealed that the number of people suffering from Lyme disease in Switzerland has increased from 2015.

Figures show that 8,400 cases were registered through the end of July this year, up from 5,300 for the whole of last year.

Spread to humans by infected ticks, Lyme disease is a bacterial illness which can affect joints and the nervous system.

Fatigue, fever, muscle and joint aches, swollen lymph nodes and sometimes a tell-tale rash on the tick bite are the main symptoms of this disease. Endit