Bob Grant | May 1, 2010 | 3 min read
By Bob Grant Once bitten An SEM of the tick Ixodes scapularis, carrier of Lyme disease. © David Scharf / Science Faction / Corbis The fever kicked in during the long plane journey home to Philadelphia from Africa. An intense heat washed over my body, my head throbbed, my neck muscles ached, and I tried desperately to stretch the flimsy airline blanket over my chill-wracked arms and legs. All because of a South African tick—o