Knowledge is the best weapon against Lyme disease, experts say. In Westchester County, the health department has launched an all-out campaign to educate residents about prevention, diagnosis and treatment - and the effort may have helped give the county its reputation as Lyme disease central.

Education efforts in Westchester and other areas of tick infestation seem to be paying off. On the resort island of Martha's Vineyard, Mass., residents can recite the list of Lyme disease precautions by heart, and interest in books and articles on Lyme disease is high.

Because few doctors knew much about Lyme disease - the bacteria was only discovered in 1982 - the illness went undiagnosed. - Hours after her son, Jamie, was born prematurely, he developed meningitis. Physical problems have continued for both [Karen Forschner], who was diagnosed with Lyme disease after Jamie was born, and her son, diagnosed at age 2. Even though he's been treated with high doses of antibiotics, Forschner says, he suffers eye tremors and breathing problems so severe that he's been in and out of the hospital all his life.