King George Apparently Had Lyme Disease

President Was Treated for Rash in 2006

From Washington Post:

Bush was treated a year ago for what appears to have been Lyme disease, the White House said yesterday in disclosing the results of his annual physical exam.

A report of the president's recent medical examination said his case had "complete resolution" and was "without recurrence" since being treated last August. The illness, an infection carried by deer ticks that is prevalent in the Northeastern United States, had not been previously revealed.

While untreated Lyme disease can cause arthritis, an abnormal heart rhythm and problems with the nervous system, those complications usually can be prevented by taking antibiotics at an early stage of the infection. The medical record did not describe the details of the president's therapy.

Up to 15 percent of people treated for Lyme disease later complain of symptoms such as fatigue and muscle pain. Whether that is a consequence of the infection is uncertain and a matter of controversy. Chronic pain and tiredness are extremely common in adults; whether people who have had Lyme disease suffer from those problems in higher numbers is unknown.

"I wouldn't expect any problem at all for the president," said Gary Wormser, chief of infectious diseases at New York Medical College and an expert on Lyme disease. "He won't be impacted by this infection in the future."

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said Bush found a rash on the front of his lower left leg and alerted White House physicians.

While the Lyme organism Borrelia burgdorferi can sometimes be isolated in the skin or bloodstream -- and antibodies to it can also eventually be detected in the blood -- laboratory testing is often not done. That is because a person with a typical rash and a history of outdoor activity will be treated for the disease, regardless of what the tests show.

Without such tests, however, it is impossible to rule out a Lyme disease look-alike called STARI as the cause of the president's illness last summer.

STARI stands for "Southern tick-associated rash illness." It also causes a target-like rash and is associated with a tick bite, but the causative organism has not been found.

STARI is common in Texas. The lone star tick is the species that transmits it. There are no documented cases of Lyme disease in the president's home state, where he spent much of last August on vacation.

And what other diseases that Bush has that we don't know?