[The first results and objectives of the study of Lyme disease in the USSR]

Results of research on the prevalence, etiology, laboratory diagnosis, epidemiology, epizootology, and other aspects of Lyme's disease, which was initiated in this country in 1984, are summed up. This Borrelia-caused condition is now suggested to be a lead in morbidity rate among human diseases of natural nidus. The most topical, priority directions of further research are discussed.