Many celebrities have spoken out about their Lyme disease diagnoses over the years, and because the disease is easy to misdiagnose, many had to fight to be believed. According to the Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks and caused by four species of bacteria in the United States, Europe and Asia. In fact, it's the most common tick-borne illness in those regions. Early symptoms include a rash in a bulls-eye pattern, fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, neck stiffness and swollen lymph nodes.