Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by a tick bite. Symptoms vary depending on how long someone has been infected.Borrelia burgdorferi is the bacteria that causes Lyme disease in Rhode Island. Other types of Borrelia bacteria cause Lyme disease in the Mid-West, Europe and Asia.Of all of the infections transmitted by tick and mosquito bites in the United States, Lyme disease is the most common. Every year, Rhode Island has one of the highest rate of Lyme disease in the country. According to the CDC, in 2021, there were 980 cases of Lyme disease in Rhode Island. Most cases of Lyme disease occur between the months of May through September with a peak in July.The cause of Lyme diseaseLyme disease is contracted from the bite of an infected Ixodes scalpularis tick, also known as a Deer tick or Blacklegged tick. Deer ticks are very small relative to other ticks commonly found in Rhode Island such as the American dog tick or the Brown dog tick. Not all Deer ticks carry the bacteria th...
