said Linda Giampa, executive director at Bay Area Lyme Foundation, which funded the research. "Based on this new data, we are now encouraging residents to take preventative measures in beach areas and encouraging healthcare providers to learn the symptoms of tick-borne infections beyond Lyme disease."The study, published Friday in the journal of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, noted that the black-legged ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi — the bacterium that causes Lyme disease — were found in beach areas at equal rates to woodland habitats.Researchers said that the insects were not necessarily found on the beach, but in the brush and grassy areas next to the sand along coastal areas of northwestern California.