Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing vector-borne diseases in the world and urban residents in cities with regularly travelling populations should be considered high risk yet there is a little awareness of the issue among either patients or doctors. Based on years of diagnosing and treating this growing problem in NY City, Dr Raxlen, together with `expert patient' Allie Cashel and a team of international contributors, provides a road map for individuals who suspect they have been infected and are lost in the `medical maze' of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, searching for a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. By highlighting the difficulties sufferers face, Raxlen et al aim to increase understanding of the Lyme epidemic worldwide and how sufferers can obtain reliable and effective diagnosis and treatment.