It can change its outer surface proteins to "camouflage" itself, staying one step ahead of your body's antibodies.
This spirochete causes a characteristic annular rash, arthritis, carditis, and in late stages, encephalopathy. National Institutes of Health (.gov) Why Is Lyme Disease So Hard to Treat? borrelia burgdorferi
The bacterium lives in the midgut of certain ticks—primarily the (deer tick) in the Northeast and Midwest, and the western blacklegged tick on the Pacific Coast. It can change its outer surface proteins to