I must admit that until recently, I’d never heard of Åland.

It turns out, the Åland archipelago consists of some 6500 small islands—most of them uninhabited—in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden.

Technically part of Finland, Åland is autonomous for many governmental functions, including issuing its own postage stamps.

This month, Åland released a stamp highlighting ticks, and the importance of research into tick-borne diseases.

According to the Åland Post website:

Tick-borne diseases are increasing worldwide, and Åland has one of the highest incidences of infections. Åland researchers have made important contributions to this field of research and developed much of the diagnostics used today. Åland illustrator Peter Bergström took on the task to illustrate the stamp motif.

You’ll notice that the stamp highlights Ixodes ricinus–the species of tick that carries Lyme disease in Europe. (In the US, Lyme and its co-infections are carried by Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus.)

For you collectors out there, the stamps are available for purchase from Åland Post.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, Board President of LymeDisease.org. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.