Can lyme disease be spread through anything besides ticks?

YES: About half of those with lyme don't recall being bitten by a tick. There is strong evidence that borrelia burgdorferi, the lyme bacteria, can be spread by biting flies- see http://www.Nejm.Org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199006143222415 many believe it can also be spread by mosquitoes, fleas & spiders, though this is unproven. Many feel it can be sexually transmitted & spread by moms to babies in utero.

Lyme disease: Typically it is simply transmitted through the ixodes tick bite infected with the borrelia bacterium.

Blood transfusion: You can get this spirochaete from transfer of blood by transfusion or shared needle use.