NORTH CAROLINA -- State health officials said hundreds of people in North Carolina are infected by tick-borne illnesses each year, but deaths are rare.

Former Senator Kay Hagan died this week from complications from a tick bite.

Infectious Disease Expert, Dr. Christopher Ohl, said he sees a handful of patients each year who have been bitten by ticks.

He added lyme disease and viruses are rare in North Carolina, but there three tick-borne infections to worry about here.

 “One is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is in the spotted fever group. The other is ehrlichia or ehrlichiosis, which comes from that little tick which you may have seen that has a big white spot on its back, the lone star tick. And then the third one is a kind of group of infections related to Rocky Mountain spotted fever,” said Dr. Ohl.

Health officials said they can be treated by anti-biotics.