In early July, 1863, troops from General Robert E. Leeâs Army of Northern Virginia (the Confederates) met up with a patrol of Union cavalry on the outskirts of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Over the next three days, this encounter grew into a turning point of the Civil War.
In the South, lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) can also transmit Lyme disease or a closely related illness. Ticks have four life stages: egg, larva, nymph and adult. In each stage after hatching, they suck blood from animals like mice, squirrels, birds and deer.
In some regions, more than 40 percent of adult I. ricinus ticks were found to be infected with B. burgdorferi. Over the past several years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definition4 of Lyme disease, with some restrictive modifications, has been used for surveillance.