Lyme Disease History A Connecticut Perspective
1975 - Unusual arthritis cases reported in Lyme, CT
1977 - First 51 cases of Lyme arthritis described
1977 - Ixodes scapularis, the black-legged tick, linked to transmission
of Lyme disease
1982 - Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete (bacterium) that causes Lyme
disease, discovered
Notes:
Lyme disease is not new. The skin rash of Lyme disease was first described by A
fzelius in Sweden in 1909. Here in Connecticut, the Lyme disease story began in
1975 when unusual arthritis cases were reported from the towns of Lyme and Old
Lyme. That year Dr. Allen Steere and his group at Yale went on to identify 51 c
ases of Lyme arthritis in the Lyme area. In 1977, researchers discovered that t
he deer tick Ixodes dammini transmitted the disease. In 1982, Dr. Burdorfer dis
covered that the disease was caused by a newly recognized spirochete now known a
s Borrelia burdorferi.