London
(ANI):
Actor
Ben
Stiller
has
revealed
that
he
could
have
contracted
Lyme
disease
after
he
badly
injured
his
knee
during
a
recent
trip
to
Mozambique.
Stiller,
44,
who
had
travelled
to
the
African
country
last
month
as
part
of
his
charity
work,
was
left
limping
after
he
fell
into
a
muddy
ditch
while
walking
through
a
village.
His
left
knee
became
inflamed
and
he
visited
a
number
of
doctors
to
diagnose
the
problem,
but
almost
a
month
later,
medics
have
yet
to
determine
the
cause
of
his
ailment,
despite
running
numerous
tests.
"I
was
in
Africa
about
three
and
half
weeks
ago
and
I
stepped
in
a
ditch
in
Mozambique.
It
was
a
hidden
ditch,
I
was
in
a
village
and
it
was
full
of
muddy
water
and
I
stepped
in
it
and
hyper
extended
my
knee," the
Daily
Express
quoted
him
as
saying.
"It
got
stiff
and
worse
and
worse.
It
was
painful,
I
couldn't
really
move
it
too
much.
I
came
back
to
New
York,
went
to
a
doctor
here,
they
did
an
MRI
(scan),
discovered
some
arthritic
elements.
It
got
worse,
then
I
went
back
home
to
Los
Angeles
and
went
to
see
another
doctor,
apparently
the
best
knee
guy."
"He
looked
at
it
and
said,
''You
got
a
lot
of
fluid
there,
we
gotta
drain
some
of
the
blood
out.'' So
he
stuck
a
needle
in
and
sucked
out
the
blood.
He
had
this
look
in
his
eye
and
was
like,
''This
isn't
blood''.
I
said
to
him,
''What
is
it?''
and
he
said,
''I
don't
know''.
So
they've
been
doing
cultures
(tests)
on
it,
they
took
two
more
samples.
They
think
it
might
have
gotten
infected,
they''re
not
sure,"
he
explained.
Stiller's
mystery
injury
was
so
painful
it
almost
forced
him
to
pull
out
of
a
scheduled
interview
with
U.S.
TV
talk
show
host
David
Letterman
on
March
23.
But,
after
more
examinations
and
tests,
Stiller''s
doctors
now
believe
he
may
have
contracted
Lyme
disease,
an
easily
treatable
inflammatory
illness
spread
through
a
tick
bite,
which
is
common
on
the
East
Coast
of
the
U.S.
Stiller
admits
he's
been
experiencing
"little
night
sweats" as
a
result
of
the
condition,
but
he's
glad
his
medical
mystery
is
almost
solved
-
because
it
means
he
won't
have
to
undergo
invasive
surgery.
"It's
actually
improved
so
much
in
the
last
24
hours,
but
I
almost
couldn't
come
(to
New
York),
I
didn't
get
the
go
ahead
(from
doctors)...
He
(his
doctor)
sent
me
to
a
rheumatologist,
an
infectious
rare
disease
guy,
so
they
do
all
these
tests,"
he
tells
Letterman.
"I
got
this
call
at
like
two
o'clock
in
the
afternoon
(on
Monday).
The
guy
said,
''Have
you
ever
had
Lyme
disease?''
I
said,
''No,
but
I
was
on
the
East
Coast
last
summer
and
my
son
had
Lyme
disease''.
And
he
said,
''Well,
it's
looking
like
it
might
be
Lyme
disease.
He
was
saying
if
it
wasn't,
I'd
have
to
have
an
orthoscopic
procedure,
so
if
it
is
Lyme
disease,
I
won''t
have
to
have
the
procedure
done,
which
is
great," he
added.