In the mid-1970s, physicians were puzzled after a cluster of children and adults in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, all developed mysterious, arthritis-like symptoms. They complained of recurrent bouts of pain and swelling in their joints; some developed fevers and rashes, others had unusual skin lesions. While doctors initially suspected that a virus might be the cause of the ailments, when a group of Yale scientists started to look closer, they discovered that the symptoms were caused by a bacteria transmitted by tick bites. The illness is now known as Lyme disease.
At first, most people didn’t see the disease as cause for widespread concern. After all, it only affected a few people, most of whom were presumed to be affluent Americans: the types who vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard or rode horses in the woods during their free time. But one scientist, named Sam Telford, was watching closely. The son of a World Health Organization parasitologist, Telford had grown up learning about all sorts of diseases that animals can spread and wanted to focus his career on preventing them. His colleagues at Harvard questioned why he was dedicating so much time to a medical problem that seemed insignificant, but as he continued his research, cases of Lyme began to rise, appearing in the grassy areas of Nantucket and around other parts of New England.
