![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/i-tick\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/69\/2019\/07\/iceman-lyme-disease-1.png\")
<\/a>Doctors examining the body of \u00d6tzi, the Iceman with Lyme disease bacterium.<\/p><\/div>\n
Oh wait, it did happen! \u00d6tzi, the iceman mummy, suffered through this exact situation near the Austrian-Italian border and is believed to be “at least 4000 years old” (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology,\u00a0\u00d6tzi the Iceman<\/a>). Poor \u00d6tzi, I can’t imagine being frozen for thousand of years. He actually passed away from a spear in his shoulder. When \u00d6tzi was discovered in the Alps, further investigation of his body showed that he had a Borrelia<\/em>-like bacterium in his DNA.\u00a0 Researchers analyzed part of \u00d6tzi’s pelvic and found two-thirds of the genome of the bacterium Borrelia burdorferi (<\/em>Touched by Lyme: The world\u2019s oldest Lyme disease patient<\/a>), the cause of Lyme disease. Lyme disease was first discovered in 1982 in Lyme, Connecticut which is where the disease gets its name (A Brief History of Lyme Disease in Connecticut<\/a>). With \u00d6tzi’s genome analyzed and traces of Lyme disease being found, this could make Lyme disease thousands of years older than what it was originally thought to be.<\/p>\n Mummies are always a great find but \u00d6tzi’s discovery is very meaningful to tick research now that we have evidence of Lyme disease dating back thousands of years. \u00d6tzi was also discovered with various tattoos found around his body. Researchers believe that due to the location of the tattoos, they might have been placed there for therapeutic relief similar to acupuncture today (What \u00d6tzi the Iceman\u2019s Tattoos Reveal About Copper Age Medical Practices<\/a>). Tattoos were found around joints that are commonly used such as the wrists and ankles (joint pain is a common symptom in Lyme disease).<\/p>\n