Rheuminations: How Tiny Ticks Have Fueled Outrage and Acrimony in Some Communities

The Tick and The Iceman

Though the uproar over Lyme disease is a 20th century phenomenon, the origins of the illness go back many centuries. The Tyrolean Iceman, a 5,300-year-old Copper Age individual, whose remains were remarkably preserved, was discovered in 1991 on the Tisenjoch Pass in the Italian Alps.¹¹ An analysis of his genome found genetic sequences that contained approximately 60% of the B. burgdorferi genome, making him the earliest confirmed case of Lyme disease. The Iceman was found buried in a snow bank, having met a violent death. An arrowhead was lodged within the soft tissue of his left shoulder, causing substantial damage to the left subclavian artery. Bull’s eye!

Dr. Helfgott is physician editor of The Rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, immunology, and allergy at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

References

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