Good point,
@MeSci , about not being afraid of the undiscovered.
Only, it's not just the pathogens that have yet to be discovered that worry me. It's the ones we know are there, but just aren't looking for them with anything resembling genuine effort.
Take Lyme. Truly a misnomer. It should be called Borrelia, as it is from the genus. There are many species, over 35. The genus Borreilia has many many branches.
The problem is, we have decided testing should pinpoint a species. Unfortunately, because of differences between species, each time we do that, we exclude most other species.
This is an issue. I might have Lyme, get tested for it, but the species of Borrelia that is being tested for is not causing my Lyme. Won't matter. If that test comes back negative, end of story - even though I have Borrelia, I am told I do not.
Why not run a genus-level Borrelia test? Then, if someone nails a positive, parse down in a search for the specific species, then strain?
Other than cost, why isn't this being pursued?
It's questions like these I find scary.