1870 – Spirochetes found in in grey kangaroo blood by Shaw, quoted by J MacKerras 1959
1822 – Spirochetes found in red kangaroo blood by Desmerest quoted by J Mackerras 1959
1872 – Cattle tick is introduced to Northern Territory along with Babesiosis and anaplasmosis quoted by J. MacKerras 1959
1959 – MacKerras – spirochetes in kangaroos, wombats etc identified as Borrelia but no DNA confirmation as sequencing technology not available at the time
1962 – Carley JG Pope JH Borrelia queenslandica identified– Aust. J. Exp. Med Sci
1967 – Callow LL – tick transmitted spirochetes of cattle in Australia and Southh Africa
1986 – McCrossin et al and Lawrence et al 1986 report patients with EM rash with a febrile illness in South Coast and Central Coast
1986-1989 – QLD State Health Department test 1,247 people for B.burgdorferi and found 15% positive but no WB was done
1991 – Wills MC and Barry RB detecting Lyme disease in Australia Med J Aust
1994 – Russell RC et al. Lyme disease- a search for causative agent in tick in SE Australia Epidemol Infect
1998 – Hudson BH et al Culture positive Lyme Borreliosis in Australia Med J Aust
2007 – Karl McManus- bitten by a tick in Duffy’s forest Northern Sydney becomes ill with neuroborreliosis
2009 – Dr Mualla McManus forms the Lyme Disease Association of Australia (LDAA)
2010 – Karl McManus passed away and Karl McManus Foundation (KMF) is formed and LDAA is bequeathed to patients so Dr. McManus can concentrate on KMF
2011 – SMH Good weekend article on Karl McManus raises awareness of TBDs
2011 – 1st TV segment on Tick Borne illness This Day Tonight Channel 7- segment on TBDs in Australia
2011 – Launch of Lyme disease appeal to 2500 pharmacies throughout Australia- brochures, posters and donation tins
2012 – Demonstration outside NSW Health by sufferers and meeting with Dr McAnulty
2012 – Nov, KMF with Dr. McManus meet with Prof Chris Baggoley– CMO of Australia dialogue with department of health (DOH) created
2013 – Clinical Advisory Committee on Lyme disease advising the CMO, (CACLD) formed by Prof Baggoley
2013– Scoping study on tick borne illness TBI issues in Australia by Prof J Mckenzie
2013-2015 – meets on regular basis to address the TBD issues in Australia-including case definition of overseas acquired Lyme disease publication. During discussions Relapsing fever Borrelia is suggested by KMF to be included in case definitions
2012 – 1st Tick Borne illness (TBI) Forum hosted by KMF at the Grace Hotel Sydney
2013 – 1st TBI Conference in Australia hosted by KMF at Kerry Packer Centre RPAH Sydney. Prof Baggoley closes the conference. Dr. Kenneth Liegner as OS speaker
2013 – 1st Lyme gala ball in Brighton Melbourne- raise $50K
2014 – 2nd TBI Conference hosted by KMF at Kerry Packer Centre RPAH Prof Judith Miklossy as OS speaker
2014 – 1st Lyme gala ball in The Ivy Sydney hosted by KMF- raise $90K
2015 – 3rd TBI Conference in Charles Perkins Centre Uni. Of Sydney hosted by KMF- Dr Stephen Harris as Overseas speaker
2015 – 2nd Lyme gala ball in Sydney- raised $50K
2015 – KMF submit to the Chronic disease Enquiry
2015 – KMF submit to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Lyme Disease Enquiry
2016 – Senate Committee Inquiry– KMF and 1000 other stake holders submit for the inquiry
2016 – Senate Committee recommendations-12, of which most urgent listed for Health Minister. Hon. Greg Hunt approves 6 of the most urgent KMF recommendations. KMF recommendations include research funding and Multidisciplinary Team for treatment of affected patients.
2017 – NHMRC- TCR for Lyme Like disease in Australia advertised. KMF and LDAA submit
2017 – Australia’s first TV advert about dangers of tick bites aired on TV ( Ch. 7, 9, 10 and SBS) in Sept to Nov as community announcement
2017 – Karl McManus Institute formed. (KMI)
2018 – DOH convenes 2 forums hosted in Melbourne for medical discussion and for patients in Sydney. KMF propose multi-disciplinary treatment (MDT) model for Australia
2018 – NHMRC allocate $3mil for TBD research, another name is adopted for TBI in order to decrease the controversy over Lyme disease terminology- (DSCATT)- Debilitating Symptom Complex Attributed to Ticks
2018 – Gofton et al – sequence Australian Borrelia and find genetically it is a hybrid of relapsing fever, Lyme borrelia and reptilian Borrelia, a unique clade. The hybrid nature may explain why people get positive results from Lyme disease tests s antibodies can cross-react with Lyme Borrelia proteins.
2018 – National serology Reference Lab (NRL) report. A report showed that Lyme disease kits used in Australia do detect Lyme disease if patient are infected by it. I guess multinationals would not have invested millions creating these kits if they were not able to detect Lyme disease, common tick borne disease in the USA and Europe.
2018–2019 – ATM tender to implement MDT model for Australia
2018-2019 – Tender to educate the public and health practitioners in Australia
2019 – Harvey et al find diverse RNA viruses in Australian ticks
2019 – $3mil NHMRC grant recipients- Murdoch University ($1.9mil) and University Of Melb ($1.1mil) over 5 years.
2019 – Allen& Clark Policy and Regulatory Specialists awarded the tender for MDT model implementation