Claim over tick bites allowed to go ahead

A FORESTRY worker who almost died from a tick bite has been allowed to continue an £80,000 damages claim against his bosses.

Iain MacEchern, 57, developed lyme disease and was in hospital for months after being bitten, and has been left with significant disabilities, a court heard. He alleged he had not been given enough protection against parasites.

The Forestry Commission denied negligence in the way it had guarded against lyme disease, and asked a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to dismiss Mr MacEchern's claim.

However, Lady Clark ruled yesterday that the case could proceed to a hearing where Mr MacEchern will lead evidence in support of his contention that the Forestry Commission had failed in its duties to him.

The court was told that Mr MacEchern, of Duror, Appin, Argyll, had been a forester for more than 20 years in the commission's Lorne Forest in Argyll. Each summer, at work he would be bitten two or three times a week by ticks, and his lawyers alleged that the commission made no suitable or sufficient assessment of the risks to its employees from the bite of ticks.

The disease is a bacterial infection transmitted from animals by the bite of an adult female tick, and the consequences for humans can vary from relatively trivial to very serious.

In Mr MacEchern's case, he was in hospital for months and almost died. His balance and grip were left significantly impaired.

The commission pointed out thatticks were prevalent around Mr MacEchern's home, and also at areas where he fished regularly, so his workplace had not been the only environment where he could have been bitten.

In any event, the commission had "clear guidance and policies" in relation to lyme disease and how to deal with ticks.