KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Lyme disease cases are on the rise in East Tennessee.
That's according to doctors and researchers at UT.
Last year, the Tennessee Department of Health said 26 cases of Lyme disease were reported statewide.
This year, they're already at 25.
Lyme disease is commonly transmitted by the black-legged tick, also known as a deer tick.
That tick wasn't in East Tennessee until 2006, first showing up in Knox County in 2013.
None of those ticks tested were found to carry Lyme disease until 2017, possibly leading to more people contracting the disease.
People like Hannah Middleton, who seems like your average 25-year-old until you look in her medicine cabinet.
"Honestly I feel like I'm much older than even twice my age," she said.
What she thought was just the stress of wedding planning turned out the be the symptoms of Lyme disease.
Middleton got her diagnosis in December of last year.
"I have to be very gentle with my body and treat it like it's really fragile," she said.
Middleton said the disease had been in her body for a few years unbeknownst to her.
But she's not sure how it got there.
"I don't remember being bitten by a tick," said Middleton. "I don't remember seeing the bulls-eye rash that a lot of people talk about. I just remember realizing that something was wrong."
Black-legged ticks infected with Lyme disease are now living across East Tennessee.
"I'll have to be very vigilant and make sure that I'm covered in bug spray when I go outside just because it would be easy for me to get it again from a different tick," said Middleton.
UT Medical Center is seeing an increase in Lyme cases.
One doctor tells 10News he saw two new cases just last week.
"It gives me a little bit of hope that maybe people in the future who have this and are looking for answers will be able to find them easier than I found them," said Middleton.
That trend is backed up by UT researcher Dr. Graham Hickling.
He recently published a study documenting how he and a team found Lyme-infected black-legged ticks in Anderson, Union, Claiborne and Hamilton counties.
Hickling noted it's possible these ticks could slowly be invading our area.
Middleton hopes some good can come from that.
"There does seem to be more information coming out about it and more doctors that are concerned about their communities who might be overrun with Lyme disease," said Middleton.
Right now in East Tennessee, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is the much more common tick-borne illness.
But researchers are urging health officials be more vigilant for symptoms of Lyme disease as these ticks spread.