Lyme Disease, The Sequel

It looks like Lyme disease, and we get it from deer ticks, like Lyme disease, but it’s not Lyme disease, at least not exactly. Researchers at Yale University discovered the disease, which so far has infected 18 people in Connecticut and New York and is so new that it has yet to be named. A Yale news release reports that researchers found positive results for the new infection in 21 percent of 14 patients with unexplained summertime febrile illness, 3 percent of 273 patients with Lyme disease or suspected Lyme disease, and 1 percent of 584 healthy people living in areas where Lyme disease is endemic. “While many symptoms are similar to Lyme disease, patients also may experience other symptoms, such as relapsing fever,” said Dr. Peter Krause, senior research scientist at the School of Public Health and primary author of the study.