Is lyme disease contagious?

As with any disease or medical condition a common question is whether or not lyme disease is contagious?

The short and simple answer is no lyme disease is not contagious from person to person. As we mentioned on our main page lyme disease is a vector-borne disease which means that it requires a carrier, such as a tick in this case, to move from host to host in order for it to be spread. It is not like a cold that is caught by all the conventional methods of something that is contagious such as by coming into contact with someone through kissing.

One known but rare way for lyme disease to be transmitted is from a pregnant mother to her foetus. However this can be treated with antibiotics and is not known to have been fatal.

It has been argued that lyme disease can be transmitted sexually through the transfer of semen and also through breast milk from mother to baby however there is little to prove these theories.

Although lyme disease is not contagious it is possible to contract the disease several times.

It is possible for animals to also contract lyme disease. Dogs are often bitten by ticks as when they are in the environment that the lyme ticks are found, woodland, moorland, heathland and other grassy areas, they do not take care of where they run or roll around and this results in a large exposure. For further information please visit our lyme disease in dogs page.

We hope that this page has been useful in helping you recognise what the early symptoms of lyme disease are and just how easily without the lyme disease rash that they can be mistaken for one of a number of other medical conditions. Please always remember when you have visited a place where you may be exposed to lyme ticks as this really can help provide a quick and easy diagnosis.