Meaning & use
ehrlichiosis
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedical
A bacterial illness spread to people and animals by tick bites, causing fever, headache and muscle aches.
Grammar: Uncountable disease name: she was treated for ehrlichiosis.
Patterns
- treated for ehrlichiosis
- infected with ehrlichiosis
Doctors diagnosed her with ehrlichiosis after a tick bite in the woods.
Ehrlichiosis can be treated with antibiotics if found early.
Hunters in the region are warned about ticks and ehrlichiosis.
Common combinations
- contract ehrlichiosis
- He contracted ehrlichiosis while camping.
- diagnose ehrlichiosis
- Blood tests helped diagnose ehrlichiosis.
- tick-borne ehrlichiosis
- Tick-borne ehrlichiosis is more common in summer.
- symptoms of ehrlichiosis
- The symptoms of ehrlichiosis resemble flu.
- canine ehrlichiosis
- The vet tested the dog for canine ehrlichiosis.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tick fever
- Tick fever is an informal umbrella term, while ehrlichiosis names one specific bacterial disease.
- Lyme disease
- Lyme disease is a different tick-borne illness caused by another bacterium, so it is related but not a synonym.
Word family
- Ehrlichia noun
- the group of bacteria that causes the disease
- tick noun
- a small blood-sucking parasite that spreads infection
- tick-borne adjective
- spread by ticks
Commonly confused: ehrlichiosis or Lyme disease?
ehrlichiosis vs Lyme disease
Lyme disease is caused by a different bacterium and often causes a bull's-eye rash; ehrlichiosis seldom does.
Practice
Which animal commonly spreads ehrlichiosis to people?
Choose one answer.
Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne disease. Mosquitoes, fleas and mites spread other illnesses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ehrlichiosis”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.