According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi that can spread from the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Each year, approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC by state health departments. However, this number does not reflect every diagnosed case and recent estimates using other methods suggest that approximately 476,000 people may get Lyme disease each year in the United States.
For more information about Lyme disease in the U.S., visit the CDC’s Lyme disease homepage and to learn more about JCVCD’s tick program, check out jcvcd.gov/ticks/.
