First reported in the early seventies. Many people present as Bell's Palsy but have a characteristic rash and a history of tick bites. The disease is named after a Connecticut town where the first cluster of cases was reported.

The syndrome appears rather like flu with headache, malaise, fatigue, stiff neck etc and may finish with the facial paralysis.

Other patients, however, report other neurological or orthopaedic symptoms.

Prevention of the tick bites would be a good first line treatment. Immunisation may become a possibility. The future is uncertain however and it is unclear as to whether this would prevent facial symptoms.

The facial paralysis responds well to treatment, which may need to be prolonged as there are usually long term problems with synkinesis.