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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Lyme disease was first recognized in 1975 after researchers investigated why unusually large numbers of children were being diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in Lyme, Connecticut, and two neighboring towns. The researchers found that tiny deer ticks infected with a spiral-shaped bacterium or spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) were responsible for the outbreak of arthritis in Lyme.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The first symptom of Lyme disease is usually a red rash known as erythema migrans, often accompanied by flu-like symptoms. There can also be other consequences of Lyme disease including arthritis, neurological symptoms, heart problems, and more.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Public Health Image Library (PHIL)&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Drawing of morphologic differences between soft ticks, Argasidae, and hard ticks, Ixodidae. The soft ticks are oval or pear-shaped and are rounded anteriorly, with mouth parts that are more easily seen from the ventral view. Some soft ticks are known to be a vector for the spirochetes responsible for causing Relapsing Fever. The hard ticks are involved with causing Lyme disease.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Black-legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, are known to transmit Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) to humans and animals during feeding when they insert their mouth parts into the skin of a host and slowly take in the nutrient-rich host blood.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Black-legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, are found on a wide range of hosts including mammals, birds, and reptiles. Black-legged ticks, I. scapularis, are known to transmit Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, to humans and animals during feeding when they insert their mouth parts into the skin of a host, and slowly take in the nutrient-rich host blood.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Black-legged ticks, I. pacificus (shown) and I. scapularis are known vectors for the zoonotic spirochetal bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the pathogen responsible for causing Lyme disease. The ticks, inoculated with the bacterium when they bite infected mice, squirrels, and other small animals, subsequently pass the pathogens to their human victims when they obtain a blood meal. B. burgdorferi bacteria infect several body parts, producing different symptoms at different times.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ixodes are classified as hard ticks, due to the presence of a dorsal plate or scutum. There are over 200 member species of the genus Ixodes. Many of them can transmit Lyme disease to humans.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Soft ticks, Argasidae, are oval or pear-shaped, with mouth parts that are more easily seen from the ventral view. Ixodes, the hard ticks, possess a dorsal plate or scutum, and many of them can transmit Lyme disease to humans.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Two ticks from hard tick genus Amblyomma which possess elongated mouth parts. Distinguishing features of the North American Ixodidae family of hard ticks include their mouth parts, which are visible from the dorsal view. They are situated anteriorly on the tick&amp;amp;#39;s body and protrude forward from beneath the scutum.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This is a member of the Ixodidae family of hard ticks, a North American tick with anteriorly projecting mouth parts. Ixodes are hard ticks due to presence of a dorsal plate or scutum. There are over 200 member species of the genus Ixodes and many can transmit Lyme disease to humans.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ixodes ricinus male tick is copulating with a female tick. I. ricinus is also called the castor bean tick because of its resemblance. I. ricinus is a vector for the B. Burgdorferi spirochete, the cause of Lyme disease, and is commonly found on farm animals and deer who are the natural host.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Image of two hard ticks, male is on left, female is on right. The Ixodidae hard ticks of North America are divided into seven genera: Ixodes, Amblyomma, Haemaphysalis, Dermacentor, Anocentor, Boophilus, Rhipicephalus.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;After laying her eggs, this female Ixodes hard tick will die. Soft tick females will lay many batches of eggs. The North American Ixodes are hard ticks due to presence of a dorsal plate or scutum. There are over 200 member species of the genus Ixodes and many can transmit Lyme disease to humans.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In the photo, the position of the anal groove on the tick&amp;amp;#39;s abdomen places it posterior and lateral to the anal orifice. The location of the anal groove is a characteristic used to taxonomically classify ticks. On members of the Dermacentor and Rhipicephalus genera of Ixodidae hard ticks, the groove is located posterolateral to the anal orifice.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The position of the anal groove on this tick&amp;amp;#39;s abdomen places it anterior and lateral to the anal orifice. The shape and location of the anal groove are characteristics that are used to taxonomically classify ticks. The anal groove of members of the Ixodes genus of Ixodidae hard ticks is located anterolateral to and surrounding the anal orifice.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Close-up of typical tick mouth parts consisting of a centrally located hypostome, and two lateral segmented palps. A tick&amp;amp;#39;s mouth parts include not only the hypostome used to penetrate the skin, and two laterally situated segmented palps, but a pair of chelicerae on the distal end of the hypostome used for penetrating skin as well.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The basis capituli of this hard tick possess lateral borders that protrude bilaterally. The hard ticks can be divided into two groups: either the basis capituli display parallel lateral borders, or the basis capituli protrude bilaterally. Mouth part morphologic characteristics are often used in making an indentification of these arthropods.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Using darkfield microscopy technique, this photomicrograph, magnified 400x, reveals the presence of spirochete or corkscrew-shaped bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the pathogen responsible for causing Lyme disease. Borrelia burgdorferi are helical shaped bacteria. They are transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected deer tick and caused more than 23,000 cases of Lyme disease in the United States during 2002.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Photomicrograph of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that cause Lyme disease. This is a spiral-shaped bacterium that is frequently carried by deer ticks of the genus Ixodes. When the deer tick bites a human being, the bacteria are transmitted to the human bloodstream.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Histopathology showing Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes in Lyme disease. Dieterle silver stain used.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This photograph of a whitetail deer, Odocoileus virginianus, was taken during a Lyme disease field investigation in 1993. Whitetail deer are investigated during outbreaks of Lyme disease because they serve as hosts to the ticks which carry the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, responsible for Lyme disease.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This photograph depicts a white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, which is a wild rodent reservoir host of ticks known to carry the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, responsible for Lyme disease. During their larval stage, Ixodidae or hard ticks feed on small mammals, particularly the white-footed mouse, which serves as the primary reservoir for B. burgdorferi.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;This patient with facial palsy caused by an infection with the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi was diagnosed with Lyme disease. In addition to multiple (secondary) erythema migrans lesions, an early disseminated Lyme disease infection may manifest itself as a disease of the nervous system, the musculoskeletal system, or the heart. Neuropathologic manifestations include lymphocytic meningitis, cranial neuropathy (especially facial nerve palsy) and radiculoneuritis.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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