In early July, 1863, troops from General Robert E. Leeâs Army of Northern Virginia (the Confederates) met up with a patrol of Union cavalry on the outskirts of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Over the next three days, this encounter grew into a turning point of the Civil War.
In the South, lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) can also transmit Lyme disease or a closely related illness. Ticks have four life stages: egg, larva, nymph and adult. In each stage after hatching, they suck blood from animals like mice, squirrels, birds and deer.
Of the over 80 types of ticks active in North America, there are only seven species that can transmit disease to humans through its bite. The deer tick, or blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) can transmit Lyme disease and other illnesses to its hosts.