I found the history of Lyme interesting!  Did you know …

In the 1960s & 1970s in a town known as Lyme, Connecticut children and adults were suffering from puzzling and debilitating health issues. Their symptoms included swollen knees, paralysis, headaches, severe chronic fatigue, and skin rashes followed by arthritic conditions. These families were left undiagnosed and untreated for years.

Two mothers from this group in Connecticut began taking notes, conducting their own research and contacting scientists. The scientists and researchers began studying this phenomenon, and by the mid 1970’s researchers began describing the signs and symptoms of this new disease and called it ‘Lyme’.

In 1981 a Swiss scientist (Willy Burgdorfer) who was studying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (also caused by a tick bite) began to study Lyme disease. He found the connection between the deer tick and Lyme disease. He discovered a bacterium called a spirochete, carried by ticks, was causing what had become known as ‘Lyme’. In 1982, this bacterium was named Borrelia burgdorferi, in honour of Dr. Burgdorfer.

Since the 1980s reports of Lyme disease have increased dramatically.

In 2012 Lyme disease was included as one of the top 10 noted diseases by the (CDC) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although it was primarily an East Coast phenomenon (initially in Connecticut), it has since been reported in every state and country except Antarctica.

Lyme disease is the number one spreading vector-borne infection in the United States and Europe.

This photo is an example of tick sizes. They can vary in size from a pinhead to a raisin.