Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks. Laboratory testing is helpful if used correctly and performed with validated methods. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, applying pesticides, and reducing tick habitat. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tickborne diseases as well.
Signs and symptoms of illness...
Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics...
Recommended tests...
How many people get Lyme disease?
Avoid getting infected...
How ticks spread Lyme disease...
How to remove a tick...
If symptoms persist after treatment...
Clinical care information, CME links, and references...
Brochures, fact sheets, trail signs, and more...
All about Lyme disease...
And what we’re doing to address these concerns…
- Video: Feeling Worse After Treatment? Maybe It’s Not Lyme Disease
- Video: CDC Public Health Grand Rounds, Emerging Tickborne Diseases, March 21, 2017
- Video: CDC Public Health Grand Rounds, Lyme Disease: Challenges and Innovations, May 19, 2011
- Tickborne Diseases of the United States: A Reference Manual for Health Care Providers, Fourth Edition (2017) Cdc-pdf[PDF – 21 pages]
- Free CME
- Travel information
- Lyme Disease––Workplace Safety and Health
- 2017 HHS joint webinar: Updates in Tickborne Disease Diagnostics
- 2016 HHS joint webinar: Trends in Tickborne Diseases
- Vaccines for Lyme Disease – Past, Present, and Future, June 17, 2015
- Lyme Disease Persistence, 2014 – YouTube video (1 hour, 31 minutes)
- Novel and Emerging Tickborne Diseases – Agents, Clinical Features, and Surveillance, 2013
- Lyme Disease Diagnostics, 2012
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