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Article: Lyme disease in urban areas, Chicago.(LETTERS)(Clinical report)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- November 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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To the Editor: Lyme disease is a multisystem illness caused by infection with the tickborne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Most infections in the United States occur in the Northeast and upper Midwest, and the midwestern focus now includes Illinois (1,2). Previously, the greatest risk of contracting Lyme disease in the Midwest was confined to the northernmost states (Wisconsin and Minnesota) and did not encroach into heavily populated areas around the city of Chicago. However, we showed recently that B. burgdorferi-infected Ixodes scapularis ticks were recovered from sites in Cook and DuPage counties (3), but the percentages of infected ticks were low ([less than or ...