How was Lyme disease recognized as a distinct clinical entity?
Lyme disease was first recognized as a distinct entity in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975.
A neighborhood outbreak of juvenile rheumatoid (idiopathic) arthritis was reported to the state public health department by the mothers of the affected children because they believed the neighborhood clustering to be more than coincidence.
The outbreak in this rural community was consistent with an infectious etiology transmitted by an arthropod vector.