Lyme Disease

Description

Lyme disease is caused by infection with the tick-borne spirochete (a type of bacteria) Borrelia burgdorferi

Lyme disease was named after the town of Lyme, Connecticut, where it was first described in 1976, and it is now by far the most frequently diagnosed tick-borne disease in the country. The vast majority of human cases occur in the northeastern and north-central regions of the U.S., with most infections occurring in the spring and summer. The Lyme disease bacterium is transmitted by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) on the Pacific Coast.

General Information and Resources

Get in Touch

Mailing Address

Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology Section
Mail Code: 3082
P.O. Box 149347
Austin, TX 78714-9347
United States

Physical Address

Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology Section
1100 West 49th Street
Moreton Building, Suite M-631
Austin, TX 78756-3199
United States