The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick (or deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. If you remove a tick quickly (within 24 hours), you can greatly reduce your chances of getting Lyme disease. 2  It takes some time for the Lyme disease-causing bacteria to move from the tick to the host. 3  The longer the tick is attached, the greater the risk of acquiring disease from it.