Lyme Disease: The Unknown Epidemic 
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/25/lyme_disease.htm

Lyme disease, in fact, might be the most insidious -- and least understood -- infectious disease of our day. "If it weren't for AIDS," says Nick Harris, Ph.D., President of IgeneX, Inc., a research and testing laboratory in Palo Alto, California, "Lyme would be the number one infectious disease in the United States and Western Europe." 

Lyme disease was first recognized in the United States in 1975, after a mysterious outbreak of arthritis near Lyme, Connecticut. It wasn't until 1982 that the spirochete that causes Lyme was identified. It was subsequently named Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), in honor of Willy Burgdorfer, Ph.D., a pioneer researcher. 

Many now see the disease, also called Lyme borreliosis, as more than a simple infection, but rather as a complex illness that can consist of other co-infections, especially of the parasitic pathogens Babesia and Ehrlichia.

Animal studies have shown that in less than a week after being infected, the Lyme spirochete can be deeply embedded inside tendons, muscles, tissue, the heart and the brain.

"Of the more than 5,000 children I've treated, 240 have been born with the disease," says Dr. Jones, who specializes in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. "Twelve children who've been breast-fed have subsequently developed Lyme. 

Bb can be transmitted transplacentally, even with in vitro fertilization; I've seen eight children infected in this way. People from Asia who come to me with the classic Lyme rash have been infected by fleas and gnats." 

Gregory Bach, D.O., presented a study on transmission via semen at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in November, 2000. He confirmed Bb DNA in semen using the PCR test (Polymerase Chain Reaction). 

Dr. Bach calls Bb "a brother" to the syphilis spirochete because of their genetic similarities. For that reason, when he treats a Lyme patient in a relationship, he often treats the spouse; otherwise, he says, they can just pass the Bb back and forth, reinfecting each other. 

Dr. Tang adds other avenues of infection: "Transmission may also occur via blood transfusion and through the bite of mosquitoes or other insects." Dr. Cowden contends that unpasteurized goat or cow milk can infect a person with Bb.