playing in the backyard. symptoms include fever, headache fatigue, and for many an expanding bull's eye rash. most cases will resolve if treated promptly with antibiotics, but if an infection is missed patients can develop arthritis, meningitis and irregular heartbeats. >> the goal here should be to prevent lyme disease. so if you're going into an area where you know there are ticks, wear an effective repellent. that can really help. and when you come back do a thorough tick check, because you have up to 24 hours between the time you're bit by a tick and when it transmits disease. for abc news i'm dr. richard besser in new york. >> 20,000 to 30,000 cases of lyme disease reported. and they say that they actually believe that it's really ten times that amount of unreported cases, if you look at the reported with unreported. >> this is a huge increase and i'm almost -- i hate to say it. our dear friends in new jersey get a bad rap on so many things but here's another awful distinction for new jersey. they're the lyme disease capital of the country. >> ooh!