Lyme Disease Doctor in Vermont

A Lyme disease doctor in Vermont is treating an illness whose case counts climbed steeply over the past two decades. The Vermont Department of Health reports that confirmed Lyme cases rose “from 50 or fewer per year before 2005 to more than 380 each year from 2011 onward.” A second tick illness climbed behind it. Since 2015, Vermont has had “the highest annual incidence of anaplasmosis in the U.S.,” per the same department. If your Lyme test was negative and you still feel sick, Vermont has a specific explanation worth checking. MyLymeDoc provides telehealth care for Lyme disease, co-infections and mold-related illness to Vermont residents.

Lyme disease is an infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, spread in Vermont by the bite of the blacklegged tick.

Blacklegged tick is Ixodes scapularis, often called the deer tick. The Vermont Department of Health reports it lives throughout Vermont, in woods and in fields with tall grass and brush.

Anaplasmosis is a bacterial infection caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum, carried by the same blacklegged tick. It usually brings fever, chills, headache and muscle aches, and it rarely causes a rash.

Key Takeaways

• Vermont’s confirmed Lyme cases went from 50 or fewer a year before 2005 to more than 380 a year from 2011 onward, per the Vermont Department of Health.
• UVM’s Larner College of Medicine reports Vermont had the second-highest Lyme rate in the nation in 2022, at 202.8 cases per 100,000 people.
• Vermont has had the highest annual anaplasmosis incidence in the U.S. since 2015. Only 9 percent of Vermonters with anaplasmosis report a rash.
• Vermont has two tick seasons: nymphs peak in May and June, and adult ticks return in October and November.
• The Vermont Department of Health recommends testing panels for multiple tickborne diseases because co-infections are possible.
• Care for Vermont residents is delivered by telehealth. MyLymeDoc is licensed in eleven states.

Do you need a Lyme disease doctor in Vermont?

You may, if a tick-borne illness was ruled out once and your body disagrees. “I tested negative but my symptoms match exactly” is one of the most common things patients tell us.

In Vermont, that sentence often has a specific explanation. The two illnesses that follow Lyme in frequency here, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, are separate infections that a Lyme-only test does not look for.

The Vermont Department of Health notes that most people diagnosed promptly and treated early “fully recover.” This page is for the people whose illness was missed, treated late, or left unexplained. The pattern of lingering illness is described on chronic Lyme disease symptoms.

How fast has Lyme disease grown in Vermont?

Lyme disease in Vermont went from a minor problem to a major one in under a decade. A 2018 Vermont Department of Health climate report traced confirmed cases from “50 or fewer per year before 2005” to “more than 380 each year from 2011 onward.”

The rise moved north. The same report found that increases “have been observed first in the southern part of the state and later in the northern part of the state.” Incidence was still lower in the cooler northeast and at higher elevations, which the report expects warming winters to change.

The numbers have not leveled off. The Vermont Department of Health recorded its highest Lyme case count in 2025. By per capita rate, UVM’s Larner College of Medicine reports Vermont ranked second only to Rhode Island in 2022, at 202.8 cases per 100,000 people.

One caveat applies. The Vermont Department of Health explains that a 2022 change in how high-incidence states count cases “resulted in an expected increase in reported Lyme disease cases in 2022.” Part of that jump reflects counting. The long climb before it does not.

Anaplasmosis in Vermont: the highest rate in the country

Anaplasmosis is Vermont’s second most common tick bite illness, and no state has had a higher annual rate since 2015, per the Vermont Department of Health. During 2008 to 2010, the department recorded “three or fewer cases” a year. The highest count on record came in 2025.

Anaplasmosis is easy to miss in Vermont for three reasons.

First, there is usually no rash. Only 9 percent of Vermonters with anaplasmosis report one, so the sign most people watch for is often absent.

Second, the timing differs from Lyme. The Vermont Department of Health notes that anaplasmosis risk “increases again in the fall.” A fever in October can still be a tick illness here.

Third, it can be serious. Thirty-six percent of Vermont cases are hospitalized, per the department.

Testing and treatment for this infection are covered on Anaplasma co-infections.

The tick borne diseases Vermont tracks

Vermont’s tick borne disease burden comes almost entirely from one tick. The Vermont Department of Health states that blacklegged ticks cause “99% of all tick bite illnesses” reported to it. The organism itself is profiled on deer tick.

Babesiosis is an infection of the red blood cells caused by the Babesia microti parasite. It can cause fever, sweats, fatigue and anemia. The Vermont Department of Health reports that 70 percent of Vermont cases are in people 55 or older.

When are ticks most active in Vermont?

Vermont has two tick seasons, not one. The Vermont Department of Health reports that blacklegged tick activity peaks in May and June, when nymphs look for a host, and again in October and November, when adult females feed before winter.

Tick-related emergency room visits peak in spring and fall too, according to the department.

Nymph is the second life stage of the blacklegged tick. Vermont health officials describe nymphs as smaller than 2 millimeters and hard to see.

Infection rates matter as much as tick numbers. In the department’s 2018 to 2022 tick surveillance, Borrelia burgdorferi was found in 56.7 percent of adult blacklegged ticks and 24 percent of nymphs. Infected ticks were densest in southwestern Vermont.

Vermonters can report ticks they find to the state’s Vermont Tick Tracker. Help telling species apart is on types of ticks.

Symptoms that may point to Lyme or a related illness

Early on, the Vermont Department of Health notes, the state’s tick bite illnesses can all feel like the flu.

• Fever, chills or night sweats, including a fever that starts in the fall
• Fatigue that rest does not resolve
• Joint pain that moves from one place to another
• Brain fog, word-finding trouble or memory lapses
• Air hunger or shortness of breath
• Dark urine or yellowing skin, which can signal the anemia babesiosis causes
• A rash, though many people do not develop or notice one

Erythema migrans is the expanding rash that can appear at the site of a tick bite. Vermont health officials report it in about 70 percent of Lyme cases.

The Vermont Department of Health also notes that up to half of people diagnosed with Lyme do not recall a tick bite. “I don’t have the bull’s eye rash” is a reason to keep asking, not to stop.

A side-by-side look at how the co-infections differ is on co-infections symptom comparison.

Testing and diagnosis considerations for Vermont patients

A good workup in Vermont tests for more than Lyme. The Vermont Department of Health’s guidance for clinicians states that “using panels to test for multiple tickborne diseases is recommended since coinfections are possible.”

1. Test broadly. Lyme serology does not detect anaplasmosis or babesiosis. Each needs its own test.
2. Match the test to the timing. Vermont health officials describe PCR for anaplasmosis as most sensitive in the first week of illness. Babesiosis is diagnosed by blood smear or PCR.
3. Read old results carefully. Per the same guidance, a positive Lyme IgM result should be disregarded if the patient has been ill for more than 30 days.
4. Count fall illness. A late-season fever after time outdoors fits Vermont’s anaplasmosis pattern, even without a rash.
5. Test the person, not the tick. The Vermont Department of Health advises that testing a removed tick should not stand in for testing the patient.

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is a lab test that detects an organism’s genetic material directly, rather than the antibodies the body makes against it.

Treatment options for Vermont patients

MyLymeDoc uses a four-phase approach, and the order is deliberate.

1. Build the body first. Nutrient status, blood sugar, adrenal and thyroid function, mitochondrial support.
2. Lifestyle and nervous system. Limbic and nervous system regulation through the Neuro Reset Program.
3. Gentle, strategic detox. Paced to keep Herxheimer reactions small.
4. Targeted microbe balancing and repair. Antimicrobial work, once the body can absorb it.

Herxheimer reaction is a temporary worsening of symptoms as the body processes die-off from treatment.

For a Vermont patient with anaplasmosis or babesiosis alongside Lyme, co-infection work belongs in phase four, once the body can handle it. Many clinics reverse this and go after the pathogen first. That is a common reason patients crash during treatment. The full approach is described on Lyme disease treatment.

Telehealth Lyme care across Vermont

MyLymeDoc has no office in Vermont. Vermont patients are seen by video.

What that means in practice. Chronic tick-borne illness is worked up through history, symptom pattern, exposure timeline and labs. Labs are drawn near you, and prescriptions go to your pharmacy.

What telehealth cannot do. A video visit cannot include a hands-on exam, and it is not the place for an acute fever after a tick bite. With 36 percent of Vermont anaplasmosis cases hospitalized, a new high fever needs in-person care first.

Vermont is one of eleven states where MyLymeDoc is licensed. The full list is on where we practice.

Why patients choose MyLymeDoc

Patients arrive having seen 20 or more specialists on average. Most tell us some version of “my labs all come back normal but I feel terrible.”

The initial visit is $300 and runs long on purpose. Ongoing care is an all-inclusive membership between $400 and $1,100 per month, depending on how much support your case needs.