Ticks are parasites of many animal species, such as birds, reptiles and mammals, including humans. They are widely spread in the environment and come in different types. In Italy alone there are 40 different species. The most dangerous tick to humans is the castor bean or sheep tick (Ixodes ricinus), which infests many wild and domestic animals. It can transmit serious diseases, such as tick-borne encephalitis, of viral origin, and Lyme disease or borreliosis, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.

To find out how to protect yourself against ticks and how to remove and embedded tick, watch this video produced by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), an Italian health authority and research organization in the fields of animal health, food safety and zoonoses.