Each year, about 15,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported in the United States, making it our number one vector-borne, or animal carried, disease. Surprisingly, Lyme disease was not listed as an official disease category by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until 1982. The public is still unaware of many of the aspects of Lyme disease e.g., its symptoms, its cause, its method of transmission (is it contagious ?). However, there are many aspects of Lyme disease that are known. For example, we know that a certain type of tick spreads the disease, and that Lyme disease is actually caused by bacteria. There is a vaccine, but it is not presently available. More research needs to be done on the interaction of the animals involved in the pathogenesis of the disease, assessing the role of the environment, and determining the effectiveness of different preventive measures