Specieswatch: Ixodes ricinus (tick)

Ticks are unpleasant creatures, hard to detect and tricky to remove. The most common in the UK, Ixodes ricinus, is growing ever more numerous and the main infection they carry, Lyme disease, is increasing, too.

Wet summers and warmer winters mean that ticks survive and thrive over most of the country, particularly in woods and moorland, but also in gardens and places with deer such as Richmond Park in London. They hang on to grasses, bracken and other dense vegetation waiting for an unsuspecting host – a deer, dog or child to brush past and provide them with a meal.

At this stage they are small, less than 3mm long, and they will normally be unnoticed by the host. It is not until they begin to swell up as they suck blood that they become more visible. It is at this moment that infection is most likely and action needed.

The disease is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that occur in the blood of many animals including mice, deer, and pheasants and blackbirds, so it could be anywhere. The tick bites small animals in an early part of its life cycle and then transfers the bacteria in its saliva to a later host – often a human.

Most of the infections occur in the south of England, probably because the bacterium likes warmer conditions, but outbreaks occur all over the UK. In Scotland, Lyme disease has increased eightfold in 10 years.

Because doctors are not familiar with the symptoms, and in some cases they are mild, many infections go undetected for long periods. The Health Protection agency estimated that there are 15,000 cases annually, but many go unreported.

One of the victims is Ray Mears, the survival expert. He was bitten by a tick and for 16 years battled with the debilitating symptoms of the disease before being diagnosed. He advises people to check themselves over after going for a walk because ticks can now occur anywhere.

If a tick is detected, there are all sorts of folk remedies for detaching them, from using nail-polish remover to burning them with a cigarette. The danger is leaving the mouthparts still stuck in your flesh and so spreading the infection through the tick's saliva. The NHS recommends removing them carefully with a pair of tweezers but the squeamish might get a professional to do it.

Doctors are being urged to be vigilant and look for tick infections. The most tell-tale sign is a red rash in a ring around the site of the bite. Other symptoms can be headaches, a stiff neck, extreme fatigue, muscle and joint pain, and disturbances of sight, hearing, digestive system and sleep. If left untreated it can progress to the heart and the nervous system. The advice, if you suspect that you have been bitten by a tick and have any of these symptoms, is to see a doctor and mention the bite. Antibiotics will see the infection off if taken early enough before any long-term damage is done.