An infectious disease caused by a spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted chiefly by ixodes dammini (see ixodes) and pacificus ticks in the United States and ixodes ricinis (see ixodes) in Europe. It is a disease with early and late cutaneous manifestations plus involvement of the nervous system, heart, eye, and joints in variable combinations. The disease was formerly known as Lyme arthritis and first discovered at Old Lyme, Connecticut.