n :  an acute inflammatory disease that is usu. characterized initially by the skin lesion erythema chronicum migrans and by fatigue, fever, and chills and if left untreated may later manifest itself in cardiac and neurological disorders, joint pain, and arthritis and that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Borrelia (B. burgdorferi) transmitted by the bite of a tick esp. of the genus Ixodes (I. scapularis syn. I. dammini in the eastern and midwestern U.S., I. pacificus in the Pacific northwestern U.S., and I. ricinus in Europe) - called also Lyme , Lyme arthritis , Lyme borreliosis  .
 
 
 
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