Why is May Lyme Disease Awareness Month?

Patricia Smith, President of the Lyme Disease Association, Inc, explains why May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability):

“The Governor of New Jersey just signed a proclamation which declares that in New Jersey, May is [designated as] Lyme Awareness Month. That is consistent with what has happened in many other states, and it used to happen also at the federal level. Our state legislature in New Jersey passed a resolution in 2008 that said every May [will be] Lyme Awareness Month. The reason is because [although] the ticks have been active already, they are a lot more active now [in May].

[Designating May as Lyme Disease Awareness Month] draws attention to the issue and enables groups to put out all kinds of educational information, [as well as] videos, and events to say, ‘This is Lyme Disease, and [these] are tick-borne diseases and we have to know about them.’ We have to understand them because education is the key to understanding how we are going to stop this epidemic that’s sweeping, not just our country, but [also] more than 80 countries.”