Researchers have learned that Lyme Disease symptoms could be mistaken for the novel coronavirus. 

Individuals who contract Lyme Disease exhibit symptoms associated with COVID-19 (fever, achiness, and chills), and, in this case, a misdiagnosis could have debilitating consequences. (The Conversation)

As we move from spring into summer, and into the peak period of tick activity in much of the Northern Hemisphere, time spent outdoors will increase, as will risk of tick-transmitted disease.

In some cases, there are key symptoms of a tick-transmitted disease that can help with diagnosis. For example, early Lyme disease, which is caused by the bite of an infected black-legged tick, sometimes called the deer tick, is commonly associated with an expanding “bull’s-eye rash.” Seventy percent to 80% of patients have this symptom.

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If Lyme disease is identified and treated quickly, two to four weeks of antibiotics can usually knock out Borrelia burgdorferi, the species of spirochete bacteria that causes it.

But delays in the treatment of Lyme disease can lead to more severe and persistent symptoms. If Lyme disease goes untreated, neurological and cognitive problems and potentially fatal heart problems can develop, and painful arthritis that is much more difficult to treat can set in.