Lyme disease--United States, 1995.

Lyme disease (LD) is caused by the tickborne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Surveillance for LD was initiated by CDC in 1982 and, during 1990, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists designated LD as a nationally notifiable disease. For surveillance purposes, LD is defined as the presence of an erythema migrans rash > or = 5 cm in diameter or laboratory confirmation of infection with objective evidence of musculoskeletal, neurologic, or cardiovascular disease. This report summarizes cases of LD reported by state health departments to CDC during 1995 and indicates that the number of reported cases declined slightly from 1994.