Emily Dickinson & Lyme Disease?

Yesterday morning, as Marash Girl waited in line to fill her paper cup with coffee at the Newton Centre Panera, she overheard a conversation that sounded strangely familiar:  "Yes, Newton and the Northeast is known to be rife with lyme disease -- you have to wear white or you'll never know if a tick has chosen you for its domicile!"  Wear white . . . hm m m . . . . do you think there was lyme disease (unknown to the medical world of the day) that existed in the days of Emily Dickinson?  Is that why she wore white?  Was her withdrawal actually due to lyme disease?