Good tip above about the telltale bullseye not allways appearing. Folks should also be aware that (from my recollection), the serological test has a false negative* rate. Therefore if lyme disease is suspect, but the test comes back negative-I'd suggest having the test repeated. [*I may very well be mistaken, there may be a newer test with higher sensitivity/specificity currently in use.][/QUOTE]
You are right about the false negatives. When i got the results back my doctor told to keep watching for symtoms and that if anything suspicious showed itself he'd test me again.
Another thing to be aware of is the size of these ticks. The adults are less than a pinhead in size. Before feeding the nymphs which can be a whitish color are all but undetectable to all but young perfect vision. Good to use a magnifying glass to give yourself the once over.
Still trying to figure out how you could sleep in their habitat without a problem.