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.
Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. Infected ticks spread the bacteria by biting people or animals. Two types of ticks carry the Lyme disease bacteria in the U.S. They are: 1  Deer ticks. 2  They spread the disease in the Northeast and Midwest. 3  Western black-legged ticks. 4  They spread the disease along the Pacific coast, mostly in northern California and Oregon.