New Lyme Disease Cases In Massachusetts Reach 40,000 Each Year

New Estimates indicate that Lyme Disease is 10 times more common than previous national counts showed.  There are about 300,000 new cases each year, most in the Northeast.

The updated total, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is based on data from health insurance claims, laboratories, and public surveys.   Previous estimates reported only 30,000 new cases each year here in the U.S.

The CDC did not break out the new Lyme numbers by state, but estimates appear to translate into a least 40,000 new cases each here in Massachusetts.   Lyme is a deer-tick born disease, and named after the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, Connecticut.  That's where the first cases were reported in the 1970's.

Huffington Post