Lyme disease is caused by which type of organism?

• A. Fungus
• B. Virus
• C. Bacteria
• D. Parasite

Answer: (C)

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is a slender spirochete. Bacteria are single-celled organisms that can replicate on their own, and Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics, reflecting its bacterial nature. This pathogen is not a virus, which would require host cells to replicate and would be managed differently, nor a fungus, which is a distinct, eukaryotic type of organism. It isn’t best described as a parasite in the common sense used for protozoa or helminths, but rather as a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks.