Lyme disease is a fairly common disease that goes misdiagnosed in many cases. There are many misconceptions about the disease. The disease accounts for ninety percent of infectious diseases in the United States from 1980 to 1998, with about 112,000 cases have been reported from the forty-nine states. The only state that has not reported a case federally is Montana. Because not everyone reports the cases, the count would most likely be thirteen to fifteen times higher. One study estimates the true count of Lyme disease cases to be about one and a half to two million.
             Lyme disease is a multi-system bacterial infection caused by a spirochete called the Borrelia burgdoferi. It was named after the man who discovered it, Willy Burgdoferi, PhD. A spirochete can be either a parasitic or free-living bacteria. It can cause diseases with humans and animals. Recent research has proven that this type of bacteria that causes Lyme disease has been in the United States for at least one hundred years.
             Both humans as well as animals can become infected with Lyme disease. No one ever builds up immunity to this disease. Therefore, the subject may be infected more than once and become progressively sicker.
             Lyme disease is spread by the bite of a tick. The tick has four different life stages that it goes through. The first stage is the egg, the second the larva, the third the nymph, and the final stage is the adult stage. The three last stages are called the "active" stages. It is during these stages that the tick needs a blood meal. Ticks that carry Lyme disease are able to transmit it for the rest of their life, giving it to several hosts. However, adult ticks do not pass on the bacteria to their offspring.
             Some transmitters of Lyme disease in North America are the Western black-legged tick (Ixodes) (in the West), and the black-legged tick in the rest of the country. The black-legged tick (Ixodes) was also known as...