Q. What is Lyme disease? A. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection, most commonly contractedfrom a tick bite, that may initially cause a flu-like sickness. Untreated, orinadequately treated, it may cause long-term, persistent illness that canaffect many systems of the body. Other tick-borne diseases are oftencontracted at the same time. Q. How do you get it? A. Lyme Disease (LD) is spread primarily through the bite of the deertick in the eastern U.S., and the black-legged tick in the western U.S.The Lone Star tick, prevalent in the South and Midwest and spreadingelsewhere, has also been associated with Lyme disease. Someresearchers believe that other ticks and some biting insects such as mos-quitoes, fleas, biting flies, and lice may also transmit LD. Babies may beborn infected if the mother is infected, or possibly acquire it throughbreast milk. A blood transfusion with Lyme-infected blood may transmitthe disease to the recipient. Some specialist medical researchers believethat Lyme, or other tick-borne diseases, can be sexually transmitted,although there has never been any research to confirm or deny it. Lymespirochetes have been found in many bodily fluids. Q. How do I know if I have Lyme disease? A. This can be a problem because the symptoms of LD are very similarto those of many common infections, and mimic some of the symptoms of other diseases. One sign that is almost unmistakable is the develop-ment of a bull’s eye rash around the site of a tick bite. If you have thisrash, you have Lyme disease. The bull’s eye rash varies considerably indifferent people, but it is typically centered on the tick bite and mayrange from a fraction of an inch to many inches in diameter. It may becolored anywhere from a mild red to a deep purple. It may appear in afew days or even several weeks after the bite. It may spread to otherareas of the body, or there may be additional rashes far from the primaryone. The classic rash has concentric areas of lighter and darker colors andexpands with time, but the rash is not always in a bull’s eye form. It is usu-ally painless, but it may be warm to the touch and may itch. Typically it isflat, but some people have raised areas or bumps in the rash.