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Lyme disease is spreading fast—but a vaccine may be on the way
Several vaccines and new treatments are in the works as the ticks that carry the disease spread to new locations. Here’s what you need to know about tick bites and your risk of infection.
Light micrograph of a Lyme disease tick (Ixodes species). Only the female feeds on blood using its boring mouthpart (at upper right) to attack mice, deer, dogs, and humans. Ixodes is a carrier of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the cause of Lyme disease in humans. The symptoms of Lyme disease include skin lesions, joint inflammation, fever, and headache, and will persist if left untreated.
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