While anyone who works in green spaces outdoors can encounter ticks, groups at higher risk include:

• farmers
• forestry and other agricultural workers
• gardeners and landscapers
• gamekeepers
• vets
• nature conservation staff
• park or wildlife management workers
• outdoor pursuits instructors
• members of the armed forces
• ecologists; and
• academics carrying out field-based study

The online Lyme’s Disease Awareness training course covers key topics including:

• What is Lyme disease?
• Ticks
• Preventing tick bites
• Checking for ticks
• Removing ticks safely
• Symptoms, diagnosing and treatment

Lyme Disease Awareness can also be adapted or tailored to suit your own needs – please contact us ([email protected]) for more details.

The course certificate will be emailed once the learner has demonstrated this understand of the course by achieving 80% or more in the final quiz.

• directly addresses an established and growing risk to health and wellbeing for anyone whose work or leisure time activities could expose them to ticks
• ensures compliance with UK law (specifically the requirements to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of staff and non-employees, to assess and minimise safety risks, and to provide safety-related information and training)
• supports workplace health, safety and wellbeing strategies
• available on multiple platforms including PC and tablet
• successful completion awarded with certificate
• flexible completion reporting
• available as embedded or hosted package
• content can be tailored to your organisation

Lyme disease – also known as Lyme borreliosis – is a bacterial infection which can be passed to humans by the bite of an infected tick.

Early diagnosis and adequate antibiotic treatment are very important.  Most people go on to make a full recovery.  But if left untreated – or if treatment is unsuccessful – Lyme disease can cause serious long-term health problems.

The true figure is hard to know because so many cases go undiagnosed or unreported. But what is certain is that cases are on the increase.

In the UK, it was previously thought there were between two and three thousand new cases annually, but the true figure is now thought to be in the range of eight to ten thousand, with Scotland accounting for more than a quarter of all cases.  The incidence in many European countries is even higher than the UK, and the estimated incidence in the USA is around 500,000 cases per year.

You can catch Lyme disease at any time of year, although this is most common in spring and summer.

The tick most likely to bite humans is the sheep tick – Ixodes ricinus – also known as the deer tick, sheep tick or castor bean tick.

Ticks need moist air to survive, and so live in areas with moderate to high levels of rainfall, and among vegetation which can retain a high level of humidity such as tall grass or leaf litter.

Habitats include grassy or forested places such as woodland, heathland, moorland or rough pasture, but even suburban parks and domestic gardens.

Encephalitis is a virus that causes swelling in the brain.   Encephalitis (the virus) can be carried by ticks and spread to humans through tick bites.  This is rare however one case was recently found in England and one ‘probable’ case found in Scotland.  Staff knowing how to avoid tick bites will further reduce the risk from tick borne encephalitis.

This course was developed in partnership with subject matter experts from Lyme Resource Centre (LRC), one of the UK’s leading Lyme disease charities, for whose input and assistance we are sincerely grateful.  LRC receive a percentage of sales revenue from the course.

Thank you also to the other organisations who helped, including Lyme Disease Action, LDUK (Lyme Disease UK) and the University of Bristol.

Lyme Disease (NHS)

Lyme Disease (NHS Inform)

NICE Guideline (NG95) on Lyme disease

RGCP Lyme Disease Toolkit

While anyone who works in green spaces outdoors can encounter ticks, groups at higher risk include:

• farmers
• forestry and other agricultural workers
• gardeners and landscapers
• gamekeepers
• vets
• nature conservation staff
• park or wildlife management workers
• outdoor pursuits instructors
• members of the armed forces
• ecologists; and
• academics carrying out field-based study

The online Lyme’s Disease Awareness training course covers key topics including:

• What is Lyme disease?
• Ticks
• Preventing tick bites
• Checking for ticks
• Removing ticks safely
• Symptoms, diagnosing and treatment

Lyme Disease Awareness can also be adapted or tailored to suit your own needs – please contact us ([email protected]) for more details.

The course certificate will be emailed once the learner has demonstrated this understand of the course by achieving 80% or more in the final quiz.

• directly addresses an established and growing risk to health and wellbeing for anyone whose work or leisure time activities could expose them to ticks
• ensures compliance with UK law (specifically the requirements to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of staff and non-employees, to assess and minimise safety risks, and to provide safety-related information and training)
• supports workplace health, safety and wellbeing strategies
• available on multiple platforms including PC and tablet
• successful completion awarded with certificate
• flexible completion reporting
• available as embedded or hosted package
• content can be tailored to your organisation

Lyme disease – also known as Lyme borreliosis – is a bacterial infection which can be passed to humans by the bite of an infected tick.

Early diagnosis and adequate antibiotic treatment are very important.  Most people go on to make a full recovery.  But if left untreated – or if treatment is unsuccessful – Lyme disease can cause serious long-term health problems.

The true figure is hard to know because so many cases go undiagnosed or unreported. But what is certain is that cases are on the increase.

In the UK, it was previously thought there were between two and three thousand new cases annually, but the true figure is now thought to be in the range of eight to ten thousand, with Scotland accounting for more than a quarter of all cases.  The incidence in many European countries is even higher than the UK, and the estimated incidence in the USA is around 500,000 cases per year.

You can catch Lyme disease at any time of year, although this is most common in spring and summer.

The tick most likely to bite humans is the sheep tick – Ixodes ricinus – also known as the deer tick, sheep tick or castor bean tick.

Ticks need moist air to survive, and so live in areas with moderate to high levels of rainfall, and among vegetation which can retain a high level of humidity such as tall grass or leaf litter.

Habitats include grassy or forested places such as woodland, heathland, moorland or rough pasture, but even suburban parks and domestic gardens.

Encephalitis is a virus that causes swelling in the brain.   Encephalitis (the virus) can be carried by ticks and spread to humans through tick bites.  This is rare however one case was recently found in England and one ‘probable’ case found in Scotland.  Staff knowing how to avoid tick bites will further reduce the risk from tick borne encephalitis.

This course was developed in partnership with subject matter experts from Lyme Resource Centre (LRC), one of the UK’s leading Lyme disease charities, for whose input and assistance we are sincerely grateful.  LRC receive a percentage of sales revenue from the course.

Thank you also to the other organisations who helped, including Lyme Disease Action, LDUK (Lyme Disease UK) and the University of Bristol.

Lyme Disease (NHS)

Lyme Disease (NHS Inform)

NICE Guideline (NG95) on Lyme disease

RGCP Lyme Disease Toolkit