From the late 1800's, through the early part of the last century, people on the west side of the Bitterroot Valley lived in fear of a deadly, mysterious illness they called "black measles."

We now know it as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

That discovery was the beginning of Rocky Mountain Laboratories, whose research is now global in scope.

With tick season now here, NBC Montana visited the lab to learn more about that research and its early days with the tick that started it all.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases oversees Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton.

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