Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons

Kris Newby contracted Lyme disease after a tick bite while on vacation on Martha's Vineyard. As one of approximately 300,000 Americans afflicted with the condition annually, she spent years seeking diagnosis and recovery across ten doctors' visits. Driven to understand why the disease remains so misunderstood and its patients mistreated, Newby investigated its origins as a science writer. Her research led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the microbiologist who discovered the Lyme microbe. Burgdorfer revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons during the Cold War and believed the Lyme epidemic resulted from a military experiment gone wrong. Through narrative journalism, Newby examines these claims by visiting biological weapons facilities, interviewing biosecurity experts and microbiologists, and uncovering information about Burgdorfer himself. Her investigation raises questions about why Lyme disease remains difficult to diagnose and treat, and why the government has been reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as an official disease. The book explores the controversial history surrounding one of the most misdiagnosed conditions of modern times and its connection to the broader epidemic of tick-borne diseases affecting millions of Americans.