Lyme Disease

Tickborne Diseases

Lyme Disease Statistics

In 2018, 950 confirmed Lyme disease cases (17 cases per 100,000 population) were reported in Minnesota. In addition, 591 probable cases (physician-diagnosed cases that did not meet clinical evidence criteria for a confirmed case but that had laboratory evidence of infection) were reported.

588 (62%) confirmed cases were male
Median case age was 44 years (range, 1 to 91 years)
601 (63%) cases had a physician-diagnosed erythema migrans rash (e.g., Bull’s eye rash)
389 (41%) cases had one or more late manifestations of Lyme disease (e.g., arthritis or Bell’s Palsy) with confirmation by Western immunoblot laboratory testing (positive IgM ≤ 30 days post-onset or positive IgG).
Of the 876 cases with known illness onset dates, illness onsets peaked from June through August with 69% of erythema migrans rashes occurring in June or July.

Despite some yearly fluctuations, the number of reported cases of Lyme disease has been increasing over the years.

Median number of cases reported from 2000 to 2008 was 913 cases (range, 463 to 1,239).
Median number of cases reported from 2009 through 2017 was 1,203 cases (range, 896 to 1,431).

Interactive Lyme disease data
Interactive facts and figures available through MN Public Health Data Access. Includes reported cases of Lyme disease in Minnesota by year, month, age, sex, and symptom as well as a map of Lyme disease cases over time.

Charts and graphs

Reported Cases of Lyme Disease in Minnesota by Year, 1996-2018 (PDF)
Graph showing the number of reported cases of Lyme disease in Minnesota by year.

Maps

In recent years, most Lyme disease cases reported likely exposure to blacklegged (deer) ticks in east-central, north-central, and southeast Minnesota.