MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Lyme disease, also called Borreliosis, is an infection caused by a tiny bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. Animals related to spiders called black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks, can become infected with this bacterium. You can catch Lyme disease if you are bitten by an infected tick. Ticks have four life stages, an egg, a six-legged larva, an eight-legged nymph, and an adult. To survive and grow, a tick must eat the blood of a host animal at every stage of development. If the host animal is already infected with the bacteria, the tick can become infected when it feeds on the host animal's blood. Then you may pick up the infected tick, either from a grassy, brushy, or wooded area, or from an animal that has an infected tick on it. If an infected tick attaches to you, it can transfer the bacteria into your body. As the bacteria invade and multiply in your skin, they do not make toxins or chemicals that directly damage your tissue. Instead, they ...