Lyme Disease (tick-borne borreliosis, Lyme arthritis)

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in New York City and the U.S. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, and symptoms can occur in the skin, joints, nervous system, and/or heart.

How is Lyme disease spread?

In the eastern United States, Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, the same tick that transmits babesiosis and anaplasmosis. Blacklegged ticks may become infected with B. burgdorferi when feeding on the blood of infected mice or deer. Not all blacklegged ticks are infected and once a person is bitten, the tick must be attached for at least 24-36 hours to transmit Lyme disease. Lyme disease cannot be spread from person-to-person.

Lyme disease in New York City

Most Lyme disease infections occur during the spring and summer when smaller nymphal ticks are most abundant. Since the nymphal stage of the tick is smaller, they are harder to detect and may remain attached to the skin for longer periods of time. Most NYC patients with Lyme disease become infected after traveling to areas near NYC that are endemic for Lyme disease, including Long Island, Westchester County, and the lower Hudson Valley region of upstate New York. For more information about the blacklegged tick, visit the tick page. The annual number of cases in NYC has ranged from 215 in 2000 to 643 in 2009. For the most recent information on the number of NYC residents reported with Lyme disease, please visit EpiQuery.

How can Lyme disease be prevented?

For more information on ticks and preventing tick bites, including the use of insect repellents and how to remove a tick, go to Ticks and Tick Prevention. Although not routinely recommended, taking antibiotics within three days after a tick bite may be beneficial for some persons.  This would apply to deer tick bites that occurred in areas where Lyme disease is common and there is evidence that the tick was attached to the skin for longer than 24 hours. In cases like this you should discuss the possibilities with your doctor or licensed health care provider.

How should a tick be removed?

For more information on ticks and preventing tick bites, including the use of repellents, go to Ticks and Tick Prevention.

For more information

For the most up-to-date information on ticks and tick-borne diseases, please visit the CDC's Lyme disease website.

Information for Professionals

For more clinical, diagnositc and treatment information please visit Compendiums and Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines.

Last updated March 2011