<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/GettyImages-577918864.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/GettyImages-577918864.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/GettyImages-577918864.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Ticks like this one can transmit Lyme disease. Infections of the disease are on the rise in the U.S. (Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)

At a Glance Experts believe warmer and wetter winters are to blame for an increase in cases of lyme disease.

Insurance claims related to the disease more than doubled between 2007 and 2018.

Statistics from the CDC show a steady rise in cases of Lyme disease. Insurance claims related to Lyme disease more than doubled between 2007-2018, according to data released this week by a group that tracks medical costs in the U.S.

The report by FAIR Health says claim lines related to Lyme disease jumped 117% from 2007 to 2018. A claim line is a procedure or service listed on an insurance claim. The organization drew from its database of more than 30 billion private health care claim records to compile the statistics, FAIR Health president Robin Gelburd wrote in U.S. News and World Report.

Data from the CDC shows a steady increase in reports of Lyme disease from 1998 to 2018, with more than 23,000 cases last year and another 10,000 people who likely had the disease but the diagnosis was not confirmed.

(WATCH: Illnesses From Ticks Increasing Due to Weather)

Experts believe warmer and wetter winters are to blame for an increase in cases of Lyme disease , a bacterial infection transmitted by ticks.

The insurance data comes on the heels of an annual climate change and health report from the medical journal The Lancet that says warmer temperatures are bringing increased health risks and fueling the spread of diseases, including those carried by insects.

The development and survival of ticks and the animals that attract them, such as deer, as well as the sustainability of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease are all heavily influenced by weather , especially temperature, precipitation and humidity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Changing weather patterns can also lead to ticks moving into new geographic areas. Deer ticks, the type that transmit the disease, were discovered for the first time in Nebraska this summer.

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Initial symptoms of Lyme disease can include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes. But a bright red rash resembling a bullseye is a tell-tale sign of the disease. Later, patients might develop severe headaches and muscle stiffness, drooping on one side of the face, nerve pain and pain in muscles, joints, bones and tendons. More severe complications include heart palpitations and chest pain.

While Lyme disease is rarely fatal and most cases can be cleared with a few weeks of antibiotics, symptoms can persist for months in what's known as Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.

"Much still remains unknown about Lyme disease," Gelburd said. "We conducted this study to help fill the gaps in knowledge about the condition, and to provide a foundation that can advance the work of other researchers."

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