Did the U.S. Military Create Lyme Disease? Congress Wants Answers

FDA Chief Blames Cold War Lab for Lyme

A government investigation into one of America’s most controversial medical mysteries is finally moving forward.

The House of Representatives just passed an amendment requiring federal investigators to dig through decades of classified military research to determine whether the Pentagon experimented with weaponizing ticks during the Cold War.

The probe comes weeks after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary went on a podcast and said Lyme disease likely came from a secret government lab on Plum Island, just 25 miles from where the first cases appeared.

If he’s right, millions of Americans may have been suffering from a man-made epidemic for 50 years.

Makary Points Finger at Lab 257

In a November 2025 podcast interview, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary made a stunning claim about the origins of Lyme disease.

He said he could state with a high degree of probability that the illness came from Lab 257 on Plum Island, a government research facility off the coast of Long Island, New York.

The island sits directly across Long Island Sound from Lyme, Connecticut, where doctors first identified the disease in 1975.

Makary referenced the book “Bitten” and spoke about Nazi scientists brought to the U.S. after World War II to work on biological weapons research.

The Island 25 Miles from Ground Zero

Plum Island has operated as a federal research facility since 1954, when the Department of Agriculture took over from the Army.

The 840-acre island was chosen because its isolation would prevent dangerous pathogens from escaping to the mainland.

During the Cold War, researchers there studied animal diseases and, according to declassified documents, conducted biological weapons research until President Nixon ended the offensive program in 1969.

The island sits roughly 25 miles from Lyme, Connecticut, close enough that deer could theoretically swim between them.

Secret Labs Studied Biological Warfare

The U.S. military ran biological weapons programs at multiple facilities during the Cold War. Nixon shut down the offensive programs in 1969, but defensive research continued for decades.

Fort Detrick in Maryland served as the primary research hub starting in 1943, studying pathogens like anthrax, plague, and tularemia.

Plum Island focused on animal diseases but reportedly housed tick colonies for research purposes.

Scientists at these facilities developed methods for weaponizing various biological agents, including research into insect vectors that could deliver pathogens.

A Nazi Scientist Joined the Program

After World War II, the U.S. government recruited German scientists through Operation Paperclip, including some with troubling histories.

Erich Traub, who had worked on biological weapons for the Nazis, came to the United States and reportedly worked at Plum Island.

Makary referenced Traub in his podcast interview, saying the scientist openly believed that infecting ticks was an effective form of biowarfare.

The claim that former Nazi researchers contributed to American weapons programs has been documented, though the specific connection to Lyme disease remains disputed.

The Man Who Found the Bacteria

Willy Burgdorfer discovered the spirochete bacterium that causes Lyme disease in 1982, and scientists named it Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor.

But Burgdorfer had another career before that discovery.

He worked at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana and, according to the book “Bitten,” participated in military bioweapons research during the Cold War.

Author Kris Newby interviewed Burgdorfer late in his life, when he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and claims he admitted to injecting ticks with pathogens for weapons development.

Two Mothers Refused to Give Up

In 1975, children and adults in and around Lyme, Connecticut began showing up at doctors’ offices with strange arthritic symptoms.

Most were dismissed or misdiagnosed.

But two mothers, Polly Murray and Judith Mensch, refused to accept that answer. They contacted state health officials and pushed for an investigation.

Yale researchers Allen Steere and Stephen Malawista responded, documenting 51 cases by 1977 and eventually linking the illness to tick bites.

Without those persistent mothers, the disease might have gone unrecognized for years longer.

Scientists Call the Theory Flawed

Most Lyme disease experts reject the bioweapon theory entirely.

Genetic research from Yale shows that Borrelia burgdorferi has existed in North American forests for at least 60,000 years, long before any government lab.

The American Lyme Disease Foundation has called Rep. Chris Smith’s claims “terribly misinformed.”

Scientists also point out that the bacterium wasn’t even identified until 1982, more than a decade after the offensive weapons program ended.

Half a Million Cases Every Year

Whatever its origin, Lyme disease has become a massive public health problem.

The CDC estimates that approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease annually, making it the most common vector-borne illness in the country.

Official reported cases topped 89,000 in 2023, but most infections go unreported. The disease causes fever, fatigue, joint pain, and a characteristic bullseye rash.

If caught early, antibiotics usually work. But up to 20 percent of patients continue suffering symptoms long after treatment ends.

Earlier Investigations Went Nowhere

Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey has been pushing for this investigation for years.

He introduced similar amendments in 2019 and 2021 that passed the House but failed to survive Senate negotiations on the final defense bill.

Smith co-chairs the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus and represents a state where Lyme is present in all 21 counties.

His latest amendment made it into the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes $892.6 billion in defense spending and is expected to pass the Senate and be signed by President Trump.

The GAO Must Now Dig for Answers

The amendment directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct an exhaustive review of research conducted by the military, NIH, USDA, and other agencies between 1945 and 1972.

Investigators must examine experiments involving tick-borne bacteria and determine whether any weaponized insects were released, accidentally or intentionally.

If the GAO finds evidence of such programs, they must report the scope of the research to Congress.

For millions of Americans living with Lyme disease, the investigation represents a chance to finally learn whether their government played a role in their suffering.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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