Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, says his Lyme disease diagnosis came as a shock because he didn't show symptoms. (PHOTO: Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, has revealed his surprise Lyme disease diagnosis.
Alexis (41), the co-founder of Reddit, said he’d experienced no symptoms of the bacterial disease which is usually caused by tick bites.
“Doing a full battery of health scans, tests etc., and found out I have Lyme disease. Wild,” Alexis wrote on X.
Symptoms usually include fever, rash, facial paralysis, an irregular heartbeat and arthritis.
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It came as a surprise for the father of two that he had the disease which is most commonly contracted around the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and upper Midwest regions in the US, because, he says, he’s spent “so little time in the wilderness and Northeast”.
He’s not letting it phase him, as he posted, “Anyway, gonna grab some antibiotics – can’t keep me down, tick!”
Most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics within 10 to 14 days.
“I’ve got a loved one who had it a few years back, showed tons [of] symptoms etc and just couldn’t figure it out until they tested him for it and then found it (treated it successfully, too),” Alexis added.
Alexis is the latest celebrity to contract the disease. Others who’ve had it include Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and Amy Schumer.
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Celebs could be more susceptible to the disease, said infectious disease expert Professor Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia, as they have more free time and greater access to outdoor regions where ticks are prevalent.
“If there is a rich and famous or class bias in this, it’s probably because they spend more time walking around in wooded parkland, more money to go out to those areas or have big homes with these sorts of places,” he told MailOnline.
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“If you go walking in these sorts of places the best thing to do is check, when you get home, that you don’t have any ticks on you and if you have, remove them safely,” he advises.
