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.
Lyme Disease Transmission. The Lyme disease bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi) is spread through the bites of black-legged ticks. Other tick species found in the United States have not been shown to contribute to the transmission of Lyme disease. Most cases of Lyme disease in humans occur in the late spring and summer.