There is a fear of ticks in the United States and for very good reason. With the fear of ticks comes the fear of contracting tick bite lyme disease.

Tick bite lyme disease also known as lyme borreliosis is caused by a minimum of three types of bacteria all part of the Borrelia group. The name for the disease comes from a village in Connecticut called Lyme because of the number of lyme disease cases identified in 1975 in that village. This lyme disease is transmitted to humans and animals by a few species of tick.

Symptoms of lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue and depression. One visible sign of this disease by tick bite is a circular skin rash also known as erythema migrans. The symptoms of ongoing, untreated lyme disease are joint pain, heart concerns, central nervous system complications. If treated early on the symptoms can be eliminated with a course of antibiotics. The longer before the disease is treated, the more difficult the symptoms are to treat and could lead to permanent complications. There can be long term "chronic" Lyme disease symptoms that will need treatment for some time after the disease is discovered.

While you can't completely protect yourself and your family from lyme disease, there are precautions that can be taken to greatly reduce the risk of infection to your family. Be sure to keep you family out of high grassy areas and wooded areas. If you do go into these areas, where long sleeves and pants and try to stay on beaten paths. Be sure to check over everyone in the family when you emerge from these areas to be sure there is not a hiding tick someplace. As tick bites are typically not painful they can easily go unnoticed.

Avoid closeness with your pets if they are exposed to wooded and grassy areas. Do a daily check of the animals to be sure to catch any hiding ticks. Educate your family, including the children, on what a tick looks like, how not to panic if one is on them and on removal if necessary. You will need to use tweezers to remove the ticks and you will need to be sure to get all of the tick. If the head is left behind it will still infect and could lead to other issues as well. Don't stop having fun outside, but be educated and pay attention.