10 Things You Need To Know About Lyme Disease
During the warmer months, talk of Lyme disease always surfaces. People and their pets are out and about more, so it makes sense that the chances of contracting the disease is more likely. But is it? According to the Center for Disease Control, about 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease in the United States every year. The odds, unfortunately, are pretty good that someone you know will get Lyme disease.
What exactly is Lyme disease?
It’s a bacterial infection transmitted by Ixodes scapularis ticks. These ticks are known as mainly as deer ticks, but on the West Coast, they’re called black-legged ticks.The ticks transmit a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi into your bloodstream.
Lyme disease causes flu-like symptoms, including a rash, often in a bull’s-eye pattern, joint pain, and sometimes weakness in the limbs. The disease can affect any organ of the body, including the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, and the heart.