 who is currently a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, said there is a neurotoxin that's in the saliva of the tick, and that's what causes the paralysis. Governor Northam said the paralysis begins in the legs and then makes its way up the body. Eventually, we'll get to the point where a child can't walk or sit up. They are pretty much bedridden, according to Northam.