Tick bites and tick bite diseases

About ticks and tick bite diseases in Australia

Ticks are most commonly found along Australia’s east coast.

They are known to cause illness, including:

• Australian spotted fever (Rickettsial infections)
• Q fever
• allergic reactions
• paralysis. 

Tick bites have also been linked to alpha-gal syndrome, also referred to as mammalian meat allergy.

The Australian paralysis tick is responsible for more than 95% of bites and is the leading cause of tick-borne illnesses. 

The risk of encountering ticks exists year-round. But tick season generally runs from July to December, when adult ticks are more prevalent. Tick season varies depending on where you live.

Lyme disease in Australia

Lyme disease is commonly found in parts of the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Asia. 

Travellers to these areas can become infected and return to Australia with Lyme disease.

A national survey by the CSIRO confirmed that Australian ticks do not carry Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. 

Australian healthcare providers can diagnose and treat Lyme disease.

Lyme disease can’t be spread from person to person.  

Debilitating symptom complexes attributed to ticks 

Some Australians suffer from the symptoms of a chronic debilitating illness, which many associate with tick bites. 

This is called debilitating symptom complexes attributed to ticks (DSCATT).

The most common symptoms DSCATT patients report include: 

• fatigue
• disordered thinking
• sensory disturbance
• joint pain
• headache.  

Preventing and managing tick bites

There is no vaccine for tick-borne illnesses, except for Q fever. The best protection is to prevent tick bites by: 

• avoiding tick infested/endemic areas and contact with ticks
• wearing appropriate light-coloured protective clothing when outdoors
• treating clothing and gear with insecticide permethrin
• using insect repellent
• using camp beds when camping
• checking clothing and the body for ticks
• regularly treating your pets to prevent tick bites.

If you’re bitten by a tick

Anaphylaxis, including tick anaphylaxis, is a medical emergency. If you have a tick allergy, get urgent medical help as soon as you are aware of an attached tick. Do not try to remove the tick yourself.

If you don’t have a tick allergy, freeze the tick to kill it where it is with ether-containing sprays available in pharmacies. This should kill the tick and cause it to drop off. 

Do not:

• scratch or disturb a tick
• try pulling the tick out with household tweezers or fingernails.

These actions may make the tick inject its saliva into you.

If you can’t freeze the tick, leave it in place without disturbing it, and seek urgent medical help.

Senate Inquiry

The Senate Inquiry into access to diagnosis and treatment for people in Australia with tick-borne diseases published its final report in March 2025. 

The Australian Government published its response in November 2025.

Overseas-acquired tick-borne diseases

For information on tick-borne diseases endemic to other countries, see:

• US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

See Smartraveller for tips on travelling safely. 

Learn more

For everyone

See more information on tick bite diseases and their symptoms, and how to prevent and manage bites.

Our archived website contains details of previous work we have done to better understand DSCATT and tick-borne diseases.

For health professionals

See more information about tick bites and diseases for health professionals.

For help with DSCATT diagnoses and referrals, see the evidence-based DSCATT clinical pathway and multi-disciplinary care model for patients presenting with chronic symptoms attributed to an unknown illness.