Starting in 1883, records of Lyme-like diseases began appearing in Europe. These included degenerative skin disorders, and ring-like lesions (erythema migrans, or EM). In 1921 Arvid Afzelius, a Swedish dermatologist, presented research on the origin of the ring-like disease as the Ixodes Scapularis tick and connects the disease with joint pain. Shortly after, in 1922, the disease is found to be associated with neurological problems. In 1934, arthritic symptoms are reported in connection with the disease as well.
In 1970, for the first time, an incidence of EM known with certainty to have been acquired in the United States was reported by Rudolph Scrimenti, who diagnosed and treated a patient who had been bitten by a tick while hunting grouse in Wisconsin and had acquired the disease.
It wasn't until 1975 that rheumatologist Alan Steere of Yale University began studying certain patients in Lyme, Connecticut, all with similar cases of rashes and swollen joints.
These were a distinct set of symptoms that could not be attributed to other known illnesses. Symptoms resembling these had been reported since the turn of the century in Europe (see above paragraph), but clinicians were not sure if the European syndrome had a similar origin to that discovered in Connecticut. Originally misdiagnosed as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, as most of the victims were children, it was then named 'Lyme arthritis' for the location of the discovery. It was later changed to Lyme Disease.
In 1981 a survey of microorganisms in ticks revealed that a tick-borne spirochete was responsible for both the European and American syndromes. This discovery was credited to Dr. Willy Burgdorfer, an entomologist with the United States Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the National Institutes of Health. This discovery occurred while research was being conducted investigating outbreaks of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Within a year, the spirocetes had been named Borreilia burgdorferi (Bb), in his honor and definitely identified as the causative agent of Lyme Disease.
In 1985, Burgdorfer was able to demonstrate that ticks infected with the Lyme spirochete could be found across the United States.
In 1988 the Lyme Disease Foundation was founded and started a major push in bringing Lyme Disease into the national spotlight.
In the late 1990's it was discovered that numerous co-infections were associated with Lyme disease. This complicated the treatment process as many of the co-infections (Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado Tick Fever, and Bartonella) would not respond to the conventional antibiotics used to treat Lyme.
In 1999 the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) was formed as a nonprofit, international, multi-disciplinary medical society. It is dedicated to the diagnosis and proper treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases.
