Doctor explains signs of ticks and Lyme Disease

(KYMA, KECY/CNN) - It's National Lyme Awareness Month and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly half a million Americans are diagnosed with it every year.

Ticks carry a dangerous bacteria which can lead to Lyme Disease.

"Deer ticks are 3 millimeters in size, so they're tiny, and if they bite us it really doesn't hurt," began Dr. Dan Sullivan of a Cleveland Clinic. "It takes a deer tick at least 36 hours to transmit the illness."

Signs of a deer tick's bite is a red spot that expands and begins to like a bullseye.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes.

The infection can be stopped by an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor, though if left untreated then the disease can affect the heart and nervous system.