Per CDC (Centers for Disease Control), nearly 476,000 Americans get diagnose and treated for Lyme disease each year! Sadly, the new victim in this case is Alexis Ohanian, whom was spotted at a star-studded event at the 2024 ESPY Awards with Serena Williams and Olympia a few days ago. But now, a shadow of a cloud hangs over the Ohanian family, with a mysterious disease making its way into the Reddit co-founder’s system. But it is not that easy to wear him down! With Ohanian sidelined by this mysterious illness, knowing the intricacies of this disease are worthwhile.

Tick bites are more common in many parts of the U.S.A., particularly in the grassy and wooded areas. Besides, the most common cases of tick bites are prevalent in the upper Midwest and northeastern areas and Ohanian’s hint at visiting those places aligns with the whole story. Based in Florida, Ohanian declared on his X on July 16, “Doing a full battery of health scans, tests, etc, and found out I have lyme disease. Wild. No symptoms, thankfully, but gonna treat. Good cholesterol is too low. Bad cholesterol is just OK. Gotta work on that. On the plus-side: 822 ng/dL total + 162 ng/dL free testosterone”.

Unlike the case of Ohanian, the symptoms are pretty grim when this bacterial disease infects a person. First, it starts with flu-like symptoms, then comes joint pain along with fatigue and rashes. However, if it is left untreated, severe health problems further trouble a patient, with swollen knees, facial palsy, and an irregular heartbeat. But Ohanian does not need to worry about that, as he shared that he has already started his treatment. But the diagnosis and the lack of symptoms did surprise him a bit.

In one of his next tweets, while talking about a similar experience that his “loved one” went through, he wrote, “[his loved one] showed tons symptoms, etc and just couldn’t figure it out until they tested him for it and then found it (treated it successfully, too). I spend so little time in the wilderness/northeast this was quite a surprise.”

The symptoms occur within three to thirty days of a tick bite, and the culprit is a bacterium called Borrelia. However, certain antibiotic pills can help combat this disease, and thankfully, if the treatment goes on for one to two weeks, the recovery for Ohanian will not be too far away. After revealing about his disease, the Business Dad podcast host also shared an optimistic X post that perfectly captured his hope to recover soon from this disease.

“Anyway, gonna grab some antibiotics — can’t keep me down, tick!” the 41-year-old wrote. The X post also contained a Tick cartoon character along with it. The father of two further reached out to his family of 500k on X to take this disease seriously, urging them to go to a doctor for more questions.  

Previously, many stars like Justin Bieber, Amy Schumer, and Avril Lavigne have revealed their struggles with the disease. And now Ohanian’s confession further emphasizes the need to watch out for a tick bite. However, he is hopeful about fighting the illness! Nevertheless, 17 years ago, an Australian tennis player, who is known for leading Ohanian’s wife Serena Williams to taste dust on-court, caught a similar illness. 

This is how Samantha Stosur figured she had Lyme disease

At just six years old, Stosur family’s Queensland home was destroyed by a flood. Stosur’s professional journey began at 15, but it took five years to become a tour regular. Initially known primarily as a doubles specialist, she teamed with Lisa Raymond to win Grand Slam titles at the French Open(2006) and US Open(2005). However, she spent 10 months off the court in 2007, battling Lyme disease.

“It was very scary,” Nick Watkins, the Australian tennis star’s first coach had said. “Her father flew over straight way to the United States; she had viral meningitis as well and that’s when they picked up she had Lyme disease.” However, this didn’t stop her to make a strong comeback. At the 2011 US Open final, she won a straight-sets victory over Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows.

Nevertheless, as long as Alexis Ohanian grabs his antibiotics, the day is not far when we will receive news of his full recovery.