Lyme disease is passed to humans by the bite of black-legged ticks (also known as deer ticks in the eastern United States) and western black-legged ticks infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.
The Lyme disease bacterium normally lives in mice, squirrels, and other small mammals.
In 2010, the highest number of confirmed Lyme disease cases were reported from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Maine.
See
Protecting Yourself From Ticks and Mosquitoes
