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That’s almost twice the number of breast cancer cases and six times more than HIV/AIDS. However, the key word here is “diagnosed.” For complicated and controversial reasons, many patients do not get appropriately diagnosed with Lyme disease. Thus, some experts believe the true number of Lyme cases is much higher than the CDC’s figure.
Why is Lyme so difficult to diagnose and why does it engender controversy?
To understand that, some background is required.
Lyme disease is caused by spirochetes, corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme is carried by ticks, which typically catch it from infected rodents and pass it along to birds, bigger animals—and sometimes people. Named after Lyme, Connecticut, where the illness was first identified, it is found throughout the U.S., as well as in more than 60 other countries.
There are about 900 different kinds of ticks in the world, many carrying diseases that can infect animals, humans or both.
Only a few are thought to transmit Lyme disease, including Ixodes scapularis in the eastern and midwestern US, Ixodes pacificus in the western US, and Ixodes rincinus in Europe. In the southeastern US, lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) can also transmit Lyme disease or closely-related bacteria.
The ticks that carry Lyme disease tend to be found in wooded areas and grassy meadows. Nymphal ticks, the immature ones, often hide under leaves on the ground. They are as tiny as poppy seeds. Adult ticks are about the size of a sesame seed and may perch on the ends of long grasses, waiting for their next blood meal to walk by. Both nymphs and adults can spread infection.
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