I’m positive this is not what the Chamber of Commerce wants you to know them for in this particular Connecticut town, but it's a fact that this affliction has connections to Connecticut.

We learn from Mental Floss, that it is not new at all. For years, doctors saw patients in various parts of the country with Lyme Disease, not knowing what they had. They were often misdiagnosed. Then, a huge outbreak of it took place in the Old Lyme Region of Connecticut in the 1970s.

Once they saw exactly how the symptoms affected many people of various ages all in one place, they were able to identify it. Then, they and had to come up with a name for it.

The towns of Lyme and Old Lyme where the huge outbreak occurred, became synonymous with the illness in the eyes of the medical community, and somehow the name "Lyme" stuck.

I know what you're thinking -- how did people in Lyme, CT get so lucky?

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