Oldest case of Lyme disease

Oldest case of Lyme disease
http://wwwJivescience.com/18704-oldest-case-lyme-disease-spotted-iceman-mummy.html
In the February 28 issue of Nature Communications, Albert Zink, head
of the European Institute for Mummies, revealed the oldest known case
of Lyme disease. The research team studied the complete genome
of a 5,300 old mummy, named Otzi, that was discovered 20 years ago
in the Estern Alps. They took a sample from Otzi's hip bone and looked
for genes of other organisms as well. The only microorganism found that
is known to cause a disease was Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes
Lyme disease through ticks. Lyme disease causes flulike symptoms
and can lead to serious problems with joints, the heart, and the nervous
system. Lyme disease was first discovered in the US in the mid-1970's
in Connecticut. In Europe, a similiar disorder was identified in the early
20th century. With there being a case 5,300 years ago, Lyme disease
has been around far longer without being identified until the 1900s.
They also discovered Otzi was lactose intolerant, had cardiovascular
disease, blood type O, and most likely had brown eyes. Otzi was estimated
to be 45 years old at the time of his death with a flint arrowhead shot into
his left shoulder being the cause. From studying the DNA within the nuclei
of Otzi's cells, it was discovered that his lineage is still present today but rare.
It is very interesting that they can find out all this information from studying
old genomes. Steven Schutzer, an immunologist from the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and lead investigator on a National
Institutes of Health funded project, plans to study the Borrelia burgdorferi
found within Otzi. He has already sequenced 17 strains of the modern
Borrelia so it will be interesting to find out what differences there are
from 5,300 years ago.