The Pioneers

Our Pioneers Eventually, Polly Murray came forward to tell the world about the spirochetal More than twenty-five years have passed illness that was discovered thanks to her since Polly Murray reported the Lyme ep- powers of observation, intelligence, and idemic and discovered persistence. St. Martin’s Press published the Lyme spirochete. All these pioneers her book in 1996: The Widening Circle: A entered uncharted territory and opened Pioneer Tells Her Story. the way for many more to follow. They had For many suffering from Lyme disease, to be enterprising, courageous, persistent, The Widening Circle offered hope. With curious and open-minded. Lyme disease new and diseases arising every day, fascinated and challenged them. They Murray's story remains an example of how brought their clinical acumen and sci- LymeDisease.org President Phyllis Mervine one person can influence the medical com- entific training to bear and refused to give (L) and Executive Director Lorraine Johnson munity - to force them to pay attention. In up. They all cared deeply about patients. (R) present Lyme spirochete discoverer Willy the end, Polly made a huge difference to the We owe them our respect and thanks. Burgdorfer their 2008 Community Service developing story of Lyme disease. Award for “leadership and dedication to reducing human suffering from Lyme disease Polly Murray Willy Burgdorfer, through research, discovery, and compassion.” relapsing fever spirochetes. “Over the next MD, PhD three years, I dissected thousands of ,” By Phyllis Mervine Willy wrote. He figured out the complex life and transmission cycle of the African spi- When LymeDisease.org gave Willy Burg- rochetes. dorfer a Community Service Award in His professor also required his doctoral 2008, we wanted to recognize his leadership candidates to have a thorough knowledge and research. We knew the wily spirochete of the “voluminous” literature on relapsing might have remained undetected much fevers, thus Willy learned of the “speculative longer if not for the unique skills and ex- claim” by European dermatologists that a perience Willy brought to the task. We also type of rash was caused by a spirochete as- Lyme, CT, housewife Polly Murray, shown wanted to appreciate his compassion. He sociated with a tick. In 1949 he also heard here at a Lyme conference, wrote a book has been known to talk with patients who a speech by Hellerstrom reporting that the about her experiences that lead to the call his listed Montana phone number at rash could be successfully treated with pen- discovery of Lyme disease. Ken Leigner photo. wee hours of the night. icillin. No one at the time really believed Willy was thrilled when we invited him that spirochetes were involved. to San Francisco to take part in our Lyme Fast forward to 1981. Willy, looking for When artist Polly Murray and her Action Program. ILADS also stepped up Rocky Mountain spotted fever rickettsiae family became sick back in the early 1970s, to the plate, shared expenses with us, and with his NY colleague Jorge Benach, dis- there was no name for the multifaceted honored Willy with a special video and sected several hundred Dermacentor illness that afflicted her and many of her ceremony. Willy later told me it was the from Long Island, NY. Not finding any neighbors. In 1975, after years of being highlight of his career. rickettsiae, they decided to check another misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and dis- In 1993 the editors of Clinics in Derma- species of tick, scapularis. Benach missed by doctors, she was finally able tology asked him to write an article about provided 44 more ticks. Again, there were to persuade the public health authorities his 1981 discovery. He decided the story no rickettsiae, but in two ticks Willy noticed to check out the situation in her town of should “reflect my education, training, and “poorly stained, rather long, irregularly Lyme, . They sent Allen Steere, research interest that provided the back- coiled spirochetes.” In a 2007 interview MD, then at , to investigate. ground needed for a discovery variously de- with Under Our Skin director Andy Wilson, With Steere's work, a description of a new scribed as ‘a scientific breakthrough,’ ‘seren- Willy describes the moment of discovery. tick-borne infection he called “Lyme ar- dipity,’ or even ‘an accident.’” I remember that time quite well…. But thritis” began to emerge. The causative or- In 1946, Willy was a graduate student it was not an “Aha” [moment]. It was a ganism was discovered 1982 by Willy Burg- in Switzerland when his professor handed “What in the hell? What’s in that smear?” dorfer, PhD, a scientist with the National him a “glass dish filled with light brown And then my work [on relapsing fever] Institutes of Health (NIH), after which the soil from an incubator.” The sand con- bacterium is named. tained ticks from the Congo infected with Continued on page 18

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