A blacklegged tick like this one can be hard to spot. Scott Camazine/Science Source hide caption
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Lyme disease
Time outdoors leaves you vulnerable to tick bites and the diseases they can transmit. New research seeks to a better picture of the geographic spread of ticks that carry dangerous pathogens. Ascent/PKS Media Inc. via Getty Images hide caption
Black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, can carry Lyme disease. Kenneth H Thomas/Science Source/Getty Images hide caption
A tick nymph, or young tick, has dug its mouth into a human arm. Left to its own devices, this western blacklegged tick nymph will stay attached for three to four days, during which time it will drink enough blood to later molt and grow into an adult. Josh Cassidy/KQED hide caption
The black-legged tick, ixodes scapularis, can spread Lyme disease. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images hide caption
Tucker Lane and his mother, Lynn Cash, sit in the wooded backyard of his home in West Barnstable, Mass. Kayana Szymczak for NPR hide caption
The culprit: Lyme disease is caused by the bite of a blacklegged tick. Stephen Reiss for NPR hide caption
Reducing the number of deer ticks in a yard can reduce the risk of Lyme disease. But no strategies are a sure thing. Scott Bauer/USDA/Flickr hide caption
A bite from a blacklegged tick can transmit Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, which cause Lyme disease. Jim Gathany/CDC hide caption
Ebola virus particles (blue) emerge from a chronically infected African green monkey cell. NIAID/Flickr hide caption
'Pandemic' Asks: Is A Disease That Will Kill Tens Of Millions Coming?
The black-legged tick can spread both species of bacteria known to cause Lyme disease. James Gathany/CDC hide caption
A mosquito lurks, eager to score some Halloween candy. Ben de la Cruz/NPR hide caption
Black-legged ticks like this can transmit the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. CDC hide caption
Mosquitoes like this one can carry the virus that causes dengue fever, which may become a bigger problem in some regions as biodiversity is lost. James Gathany/CDC Public Health Image Library hide caption
The Lone Star tick, common to the southeastern U.S., is responsible for inducing meat allergies in some people, scientists say. CDC Public Health Image Library hide caption
Last year, Tom Mather caught 15,000 deer ticks in the woods of southern Rhode Island. "People really need to become tick literate," the University of Rhode Island researcher says. Brian Mullen for NPR hide caption
Lyme disease is spread by deer ticks like this one. A study finds that some people can be reinfected many times with the bacteria that cause the disease. Lauree Feldman/Getty Creative Images hide caption
This blacklegged tick, found in a Michigan forest, probably wouldn't mind you having her over for dinner. Graham J. Hickling/University of Tennessee hide caption