B. burgdorferi bacteria cause Lyme disease. Lyme disease symptoms include rash, fever, aches and swelling. You may feel like you have the flu.When the rash occurs at the site of the tick bite, it is called a primary lesion. Multiple secondary lesions can occur that are a reaction to the infection and are not due to multiple tick bites. All of these lesions can grow up to the to the size of a football.
The redness of this rash is due to the immune system’s provocation to mount an inflammatory response to the invading organism. Unfortunately, even as this inflammation occurs the neutrophils which should accompany it fail to materialise. Neutrophils are the immune system components which would aid elimination of the bacteria from the skin; thus, the spirochaetes continue to survive and thrive.

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