= Lyme disease
<Lyme disease> is a tick-borne <bacterial infection> caused by members of the <Borrelia burgdorferi> species complex and transmitted by infected <Ixodes> <ticks>. Early illness can include fever, fatigue and an expanding rash called <erythema migrans>; later involvement can affect <joints>, the <nervous system> or the <heart>. The rash has varied appearances and need not form a textbook bullseye.<Signs and Symptoms of Untreated Lyme Disease by CDC>[Early and later signs; erythema migrans appearance]{ref}
The bacterial link emerged from a specific line of evidence. In 1982, <Willy Burgdorfer> and colleagues reported <spirochaetes> in ticks from an affected area, cultivation of the organisms, and reactions with <antibodies> from patients with <Lyme disease>. This connected a vector-associated organism to the human illness, rather than inferring a cause from an association with outdoor exposure alone.<Lyme disease: a tick-borne spirochetosis? by Willy Burgdorfer and others>[1982, abstract: tick isolates, cultivation and patient-serum reactivity]{ref}
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