Tick on glove (IMAGE) Virginia Tech Caption In the state of Virginia, the disease is transmitted by the bite of blacklegged ticks, which are infected with the Lyme disease-causing bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Photo by Max Esterhuizen for Virginia Tech. Credit Virginia Tech Usage Restrictions No restrictions. License Public Domain Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.