Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Warfare

by Kris Newby

A riveting thriller reminiscent of The Hot Zone, this true story dives into the mystery surrounding one of the most controversial and misdiagnosed conditions of our time-Lyme disease-and of Willy Burgdorfer, the man who discovered the microbe behind it, revealing his secret role in developing bug-borne biological weapons, and raising terrifying questions about the genesis of the epidemic of tick-borne diseases affecting millions of Americans today.

While on vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Kris Newby was bitten by an unseen tick. That one bite changed her life forever, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating illness that took ten doctors to diagnose and years to recover: Newby had become one of the 300,000 Americans who are afflicted with Lyme disease each year.

As a science writer, she was driven to understand why this disease is so misunderstood, and its patients so mistreated. This quest led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the Lyme microbe's discoverer, who revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons during the Cold War, and believed that the Lyme epidemic was started by a military experiment gone wrong.

In a superb, meticulous work of narrative journalism, Bitten takes readers on a journey to investigate these claims, from biological weapons facilities to interviews with biosecurity experts and microbiologists doing cutting-edge research, all the while uncovering darker truths about Willy. It also leads her to uncomfortable questions about why Lyme can be so difficult to both diagnose and treat, and why the government is so reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as a disease.

A gripping, infectious page-turner, Bitten will shed a terrifying new light on an epidemic that is exacting an incalculable toll on us, upending much of what we believe we know about it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Health, History, Medical, Medicine, Audiobook

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2019

About the author

KRIS NEWBY is an award-winning science writer at Stanford University and the senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary UNDER OUR SKIN, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was a 2010 Oscar semifinalist. Newby has two degrees in engineering, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s degree from Stanford University. Previously, Newby was a technology writer for Apple and other Silicon Valley companies. She lives in Palo Alto.

Reviews

[E.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amongst the Lyme community, of which I am, very reluctantly, a member, there's always a certain amount of talk about bioweapons. "Plum Island," people will whisper. "Nazi scientists."

I always dismissed that as crazy conspiracy talk. But in "Bitten" Kris Newby, a science writer who was herself infected with Lyme disease, and the creator of the documentary "Under Our Skin," digs into the US program that was, it turns out, indeed working on creating tick-borne bioweapons in the 1950s and 1960s.

Newby's research is meticulous, and the information she reveals is powerful, especially in the first part of the book, as she lays out what the bioweapons program was doing. Prepare to be horrified by tales of the US dumping boxes of infected ticks over the sugarcane fields of Cuba, and other appalling actions.

The line from the bioweapons program to the contemporary Lyme disease outbreak is less straightforward, but still compelling. I won't go into details to avoid dropping any major spoilers, but Newby raises a number of important questions that should be answered.

I also can't help but wonder about what other programs were out there testing tick-borne illnesses. I was almost certainly infected myself while a child growing up near Fort Campbell, KY. In her excellent book about the Lyme epidemic "Cure Unknown," Pamela Weintraub describes how there was an outbreak of Lyme disease in the 1980s and 1990s (when I was probably first exposed) between Cape Girardeau, MO and Fort Campbell, KY. At the time, according to Weintraub, the CDC flatly refused to recognize the outbreak as Lyme disease, as it was hundreds of miles away from the known Lyme hotspots. Now a shockingly large number of my childhood friends from that area have developed Lyme or other tick-borne illnesses. Had Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever already spread to Western KY through natural means by then--or was Fort Campbell being used as another testing ground? Inquiring minds want to know.

In any case, "Bitten" is an excellent introduction to the US bioweapons program using tick-borne illnesses, even though it raises as many questions as it answers. We can only hope that there will be more investigations and more information forthcoming.

[Valerie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like a lab rat

This frightening expose on the history of Lyme disease has been a long time coming. Last summer I spiked a relapsing fever of over 104° for over a month. I tested positive for Bartonella, Anaplasmosis, Toxoplasmosis, Ehrlichia, Mycoplasma Pneumonia and Tick Borne Relapsing Fever . My IgG 2 (The part of the immune system that fights many bacterial infections) was so below normal I couldn't go out in public for months without a face mask. The last tick bite I remember was at least 5 years ago (tick bite 3). Despite aggressive treatment I have been so I'll that I have been disabled for 15 years after tick bite 2. I believe that I first contracted Lyme and company in Coastal New Jersey in 1979. I am an Archaeologist and Attorney by training and I don't imagine symptoms or illnesses . I'm lucky to be stubborn and smart enough to have ignored all the so called medical professionals who intimated that all my problems were in my head. I will continue to fight this cascade of diseases . Thank you so much to Ms. Newby for validating what I have long suspected . My hope is that this will force the government and IDSA to acknowledge that "Lyme" is really a cluster of diseases, and that we still don't have an effective treatment for many people . My thanks again.

[Darcia Helle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Kris Newby, for writing this book. Most of us living with chronic Lyme disease have been betrayed by doctors. All of us have been betrayed by our government. The truth of this disease needs a giant spotlight exposing all the dark secrets, and this book is that spotlight.

The story unraveled within these pages is jarring and disturbing, but for those of us living with this disease, it's not surprising. The CDC has persistently and defiantly refused to acknowledge this epidemic, despite the very real data proving its existence. When a government agency is working harder to ignore an epidemic than to understand it, that speaks volumes about its complicity.

From an objective standpoint, the history here is fascinating. Newby doesn't address only Lyme disease. She exposes the history of many tickborne illnesses, the drive toward biological warfare, and the accidents, secrecy, and terrible judgment along the way.

This book is exceptionally well researched and well written. If I thought my doctors would bother to read it, I'd buy them each a copy.

[Elyse]

This book presents the theory that there may have been a biowarfare accident in Lyme, CT back in the late 1960s. During the Cold War the USA did a lot of research trying to discover live "agents" to spread man-made bio weapons. Ticks being one of them. The author has done extensive research. And she certainly has the credentials to write this book. But even with all the compelling evidence, she herself admits that without a whistle-blower coming forward there is scant chance her theory will ever be proven. For now, I'm leaning towards the belief it is true.

[Megan Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book in a day. The author refers to the Lyme epidemic as an “American Chernobyl” and it rings horrifically true. She uncovers the United States’ insidious role in contracting scientists to weaponize ticks for biological warfare during the Cold War. As a Lyme sufferer, I am shocked. I am outraged. I am furious. This is a major win for the Lyme community and I hope and pray that Ms. Newby’s investigative work will be the catalyst for change that we sick patients so desperately need. Read it now.

[Foppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad the author was able to piece this story together, and write about it in an accessible way. Useful book, which gives a nice peek into this sick business, plus into the life of yet another human being who ignored the moral questions because he wanted to be a 'scientist', and who never really escaped that mindset, to take responsibility for his actions. This is a huge societal issue. That said, I would've preferred it if the discussion of the perverse incentives had been a bit longer and more detailed. As it is, it's mostly glossed over.

Most important take-aways: most tick-born infections come in pairs or threes, and often include ricksettsia strains (at the very least in the US). And (chronic) 'Lyme disease' may be more treatable than has thus far been thought, because up until now, often only one of the infections was being treated, for reasons related to money (and maybe more, but who knows). Furthermore, it's slowly being taken more seriously, and genetic research may one day prove useful in elucidating the 'secret history'.

Epilogue is very disappointing, though, either at the publisher's request, or because she herself felt she had to underplay things. For instance, even though she documented a case of the US dumping ticks over Cuban land as part of the US/CIA attempts to invade Cuba and/or overthrow or kill Fidel ('operation mongoose'), she writes:

What this book brings to light is that the U.S. military has conducted thousands of experiments exploring the use of ticks and tick-borne diseases as biological weapons, and in some cases, these agents escaped into the environment. The government needs to declassify the details of these open-air bioweapons tests so that we can begin to repair the damage these pathogens are inflicting on humans and animals in the ecosystem.

"in some cases they escaped"? In some cases, they were deliberately released. Sure, Cuba isn't America, but the people who live there are still humans (or nonhumans) who value their health, and whose health the US had no right to risk.

Similarly, even though the entire BW/CW program was highly immoral, she never feels a need to say this, and she describes the stonewalling that she ran into earlier purely as (agency-less) systemic "failures", "unwillingness", and a consequence of a 'funding model', and never one of ill intent, plus a desire to cover up, plus a lack of interest in the well-being of the population by elites and the corporations and researchers who came up with or lobbied for or are willing to work under that funding model, or who make money off treatments, vaccines, and so on. Newby:

I believe that history will judge the tick-borne disease outbreak that began in 1968 as one of the worst public health failures of the last century. In the beginning, we were slow to recognize this triple threat. A situation that is now out of control, spreading far and wide, could’ve been contained with an early intervention of tick-control projects and a public education campaign.

"We" weren't slow, because there is no "we" who care about "ourselves". There were interests who didn't give a fuck, and who kept those whose lives they were toying with in the dark to prevent them from forming opinions, from objecting, and so on. Institutions allowed it to spread, institutions decided to do real-world tests, at the behest of the same antidemocratic bureaucrats that did the things described here: The Face of Imperialism.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is 50% an interesting history of Willie Burgdorfer and the U.S. Biological Weapons Program, and 50% the author chasing down a crank theory, finding no compelling evidence for it, and for some reason publishing it anyway.

In classic conspiratorial-thinking reversal, the author turns "ticks are natural carriers of many human pathogens, therefore U.S. government scientists studied them as potential vectors for biological weapons," into "the U.S. government worked on tick-borne vectors for biological weapons, therefore WHAT IF a new tick-borne disease outbreak is the result of an accidental or even malicious release, and WHAT IF the difficulty in diagnosing and the slow process of characterizing a previously-unknown pathogen is a government cover-up!"

It's most amusing that she marvels at how "open and friendly" the scientists at a Rickettsial disease conference are compared to her experiences attending Lyme disease conferences. She of course attributes this to a culture of secrecy around Lyme disease, and not that the scientists who actually study Lyme disease are sick of talking to her about her unscientific nonsense.

Ultimately there is no evidence for the author's theories and she fills this void with innuendo. She says at the beginning that she pitched this story to multiple outlets and none of them wanted to touch it. Those outlets were right to take a pass.

[Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves the Nobel Prize and if it wins it, you heard it here first. Science journalist Kris Newby uncovers horrible hidden truths of our government's secret biological weapons program. She has spent many years conducting research with the Lyme microbe discoverer Willy Burgdorfer, and has read though tens of thousands of his medical research and papers to uncover some very horrible truths about our government's bioweapons testing using parasites and insects. I can't recommend this book enough. I'm still digesting some of what it has uncovered. Read it.

[Janet Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitten was a fast & furious read for me. I thought about it when I wasn't reading it. Having been directly affected by this pestilence, through our youngest daughter's tick bite over six years ago, it struck home in many ways. The first book I read on the subject of Lyme was, 'Cure Unknown: Inside The Lyme Epidemic.' Written by Pamela Weintraub, that book scared me to death. After a year of searching for the cause of her afflictions that progressed without answers despite seeing doctors, specialists & undergoing tests that revealed nothing as to the source. A Lyme Specialist had newly diagnosed our daughter with Lyme as well as nearly 12 co-infections. By that time, our daughter was in late neurological Lyme Disease. Who would know that most Lyme tests are inaccurate? That two weeks of Doxycycline are inadequate to treat the disease? A majority of Physicians do not know those facts.

The documentaries, 'Under Our Skin' & 'Under Our Skin 2: Emergence' were both compelling sources of information on tick-borne disease. The author of this book, Kris Newby, was the Senior producer of the UOS-1.

I went on to read, 'Lab 257' by Michael Christopher Carroll & 'Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists To America' by Annie Jacobsen. So I wasn't surprised to learn that the tick-borne pestilence hundreds of thousands of Americans are afflicted with were bioweapons developed by our government.

'Bitten' did reveal a fact that shocked me, though it should not have, on reflection. The discoverer of the Lyme Spirochete, Willie Burgdorfer, a man long viewed as a hero for this remarkable feat, was in actuality its creator. These books gave me the insight to understand why the CDC refuses to acknowledge the existence of Chronic Lyme Disease. Why our government will not admit, it's part in the creation of Borrelia Burgdorferi and a plethora of co-infections that can disable & kill. They answer the question of why Lyme disease is disallowed as a disability by insurance companies or SSDI. We now know that venturing outdoors, anywhere in the United States, is more dangerous than anyone would guess. A tick-borne disease may be acquired in one's backyard or out in nature — a sobering risk in the enjoyment of some of our greatest pleasures.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lyme disease is debilitating and those afflicted --- as well as those who fear its affliction -- are desperate for answers. Enter a writer with conclusions to be supported by what evidence may be gathered. Distortions, exaggerations, and surmises should not substitute for scientific knowledge. In the writer's world, the government is evil and its chief researcher for tick-borne diseases may have been influenced by foreign agents. Oddly, this is not factored into the purported "confession" presented, which bears little resemblance to a cogent statement. Still, the writer has made her way to fame with Lyme's. One might only wish that science would march as swiftly and surely as she has.

[Ashley K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a tick biologist and reluctantly picked up this book because so many people mentioned it to me. Having finished it, I can say that there is plenty of good, factual information in it, and many points that the author and I agree on, however, there is also a dangerous amount of misinformation and several key points where we disagree.

I had previously read Jeffrey Lockwood's Six-Legged Soldiers, so it was not surprising to me that the US military explored ticks as a possible bioweapon, decades ago. I was not surprised that Burgdorfer himself took part in this research. What is clear to me, however, and not made clear in this book, is that this research didn't pan out into anything significant. As it turns out, ticks are not well-suited for use in biowarfare.

Here's the thing-- yes, ticks vector a startling number of diverse pathogens that can induce serious illness and even mortality. Yes, tick-associated illnesses are a serious and scary problem and one that continues to grow each year (I know this both as a medical entomologist, and as a patient of several of these illnesses). But we don't need a conspiracy theory to explain why this problem exists and why it is spreading. There are already perfectly sound explanations that consist of climatological data, combined with evidence of changing land-use patterns and growing human populations that are increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitat and thus encountering ticks more, and other unfortunate (but not sinister or malevolent) factors. For example, ticks are sensitive to cold temperatures, so typically, many of them die off during the winter. But because of climate change, winters have been shorter and milder, thus, many more ticks survive them these days. Similarly, many ticks of medical importance thrive in "edge" habitat (such as the borders of fragmented forests that are adjacent to suburban development), and because natural habitats have been increasingly carved up into smaller and smaller parcels, there is now an abundance of edge habitat that is suitable for ticks.

So, it's true that humans, in a sense, brought this problem upon ourselves, but we can't point our fingers at a few bad actors doing shadowy misdeeds during the Cold War. Occam's Razor stipulates that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Which is simpler-- that ticks and their pathogens are spreading because of (well-established) climatic changes that are favorable to them, or that Russian agents somehow snuck into a US lab, stole infected ticks, secretly unleashed them on an unsuspecting US public, and the US government took pains to cover it up all this time? I suspect it's the former.

I enjoyed the biographical information about Willy Burgdorfer, but overall I cannot recommend this book because it crosses the line into peddling baseless conspiracy theories.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fascinating and terrifying. I had no expectations of the book and I don’t, as far as I know, suffer from a tick-born disease. The premise of the book, told in much greater detail and with personal anecdotes as well as scientific terms, is that ticks are talented carriers of disease. Through meticulous research and hints dropped by a brilliant scientist from the Cold War, the author discovers that anthropods have been weaponized by scientifically altering the ticks and helping them carry two or three diseases, incapacitating an army or people for weeks or months. Imagine using this during WWII. Imagine fighting in Normandy where most of the German army is suffering from the affects of tick-borne illnesses; weak, foggy brained, inflamed joints and brain, gastrointestinal issues, etc.

My own rant: As a native Utahn, I have grown up in the shadow of radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the Nevada desert. For another terrifying and fascinating read, pick up The Day We Bombed UtahDownwinders have been fighting and dying from cancer since then, at higher rates than National average. Rather than admit fault, our government tried to cover up the dangers of exposure to radioactive fallout. One government veterinarian that studied the sheep burned from the exposure was threatened by his employer the loss of his retirement if he did not claim the sheep did not die from radiation. That fact is not in the book. The veterinarian was my husband’s grandfather.

The number of tick borne diseases increased unnaturally in the 1980’s, particularly in certain geographical areas (but have since spread) much like the increase of cancers downwind from nuclear test sites. The difference, I believe, is that you can’t hide a Mushroom Cloud. The author can not prove her theory of open air tests but has compelling evidence that the scientist knew more than he was willing to share. There is a concerted effort within government agencies to deny long term tick diseases and refusal to put money into research for proper testing or treatment. Perhaps it is an effort to hide the invisible “Mushroom Cloud.” The point is that more can be done before the bodies pile up.

[msleighm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. Narration average.

This book was on my wishlist. During an appointment with my Lyme Literate rheumatologist on Friday, he raved about the book. He said it gave him nightmares. Since reading it, it's obvious he's read a lot of original medical and other research based on things that are suggested in the book.

I bought the audiobook and started reading (listening) the next day. Due to my ten years of researching all aspects of tick disease, nothing really shocked me other than that some of the theories have finally been proven. No nightmares for me.

Over the years, several friends have suggested I write my Lyme saga story. I don't need to, the number of high quality books about lyme disease that are out there (and continuing to be published) tell my story very well. Plus I'm just too tired.

The science is explained in an easy to follow way.

Recommended to everyone.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s a lot of interesting Lyme Disease information here but there’s also a lot of speculation and drama that makes it tough to mentally compartmentalize what I accept as fact or likely.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard to say how I feel about this one.

On one hand, we have records of the US military experimenting with ticks as biological weapons. We have the sudden and unexplained appearance of a Lyme outbreak in New England in the 70s. We have thousands of people suffering from a disease (chronic Lyme) which the medical community won’t fully admit even exists. We have a sorta-confession of poor ethics from a notable biologist who discovered the spirochete which causes Lyme disease.

But we also have the fact that the confession came from a man with advanced Parkinson’s disease who is shown to grow confused and disoriented at other points in the book. We have an author who is presupposing the worst because she herself is infected with (what she believes to be) three different tick-borne illnesses. We have several people making dramatic eye contact with the author and whispering that the knowledge she seeks could “get her killed.”

So I’m not sure how much of this is good, solid research, and how much of this is a researcher starting from a conclusion and working to make the evidence fit.

The whole book ends not with a solid conclusion, but with a plea for a whistle blower to step forward (presumably at enormous risk to themselves) and to blow the lid off the fact that we created tick-borne diseases as part of a bio weapons program, we accidentally let them escape, and we are now gaslighting thousands of suffering patients so we can keep denying the first two points.

And... ya know... maybe some of that’s true and maybe some of it’s not. This book doesn’t satisfactorily land me on either side of the theory.

[timv · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found parts of this story of the history of biological warfare research and its relation to Lyme disease to be very disturbing. This is a book written for a lay audience and contains a minimal amount of scientific jargon considering it’s subject matter. It was a pretty easy and fast read for me.

Before reading this book I thought the subject of the science of Lyme disease to be a quagmire and after reading this book I’m even more of that opinion. This book is thoroughly researched by a dedicated and skilled writer. Unfortunately, her research did not unveil the fact that she was probably hoping to unveil and then she was faced with publishing a book that lacked a big reveal. Even though there’s no big reveal (outside of the very disturbing discussion of biological warfare research during the Cold War), this book is most definitely worth reading and contemplating.

Lyme disease deserves a massive amount of NIH funding to sort through this mess known as Lyme disease.

[Devan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kind of expected more from the set up of this book. The author makes a lot of insinuations, provides a lot of backstory on the scientist who studied ticks, includes quotes from 3 different people saying how her meddling in this story could get her killed because the information is so significant, but then it just ends without proving anything.

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

She has this weird chapter towards the end where she quotes Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce "I will fight no more forever". At least twice in the book she quotes people as warning her "not to die for this (exposing Lyme disease as a possible military accident)".

I suspect Kris Newby knows more than she can officially say.

[Megan Porter · Rating 1 out of 5]

While this book was an entertaining read full of conspiracy theories, I found the ending to be uninspiring and unconvincing. The author herself admits that after 5 years of research she wasn’t able to find verifiable documents for her main theory.

Unfortunately, rather than contribute to the story of tickborne diseases in the United States in a way that fosters cooperation between all entities for the good of patients, the author chose to peddle conspiracy theories and sow distrust in the medical community. Quite disappointed.

[Kamella Neeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating and terrifying. I have been diagnosed twice with Lyme disease, once in 2006 and once just last year in 2018. Both ticks came from the lower Missouri area near West Plains.
My first bout with the disease produced the worst arthritic pain imaginable and that hung around for months. I went almost 2 weeks before I went to the Dr, and thought I was about to be diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Although my tests came back negative and I did not have a bullseye rash, my Dr wisely decided to treat me as having Lyme Disease, stating that he had seen more cases in the past year than he had in his entire medical career. (He was in his early 60’s) I am extremely grateful he treated me.

My second bout of the Lyme came from a tick that bit me in the middle of the night while I was visiting at a summer camp. I woke up and felt itchy on my side and reached back and felt the tick there and pulled it off saying to myself, “You had better not be a Lyme tick.....!!” That was a Sat night. I was bit once. The tick wasn’t on me more than a few hours. I wasn’t even at the camp for 24 hours. By the end of the week I woke up with a slightly itchy feeling on my side and sleepily got up and walked to the bathroom and thought I’d better check it and the thought flashed in my head, “You know you’re going to see a Bullseye rash.” And I did. I got myself up and went to the Dr, she took one look and said Yep, and treated me for Lyme. I fortunately did not have any other complications from this second bite. I consider myself very lucky to have no lasting effects or problems from either of my Lyme tick bites.

So many thoughts went through my head as I read this book. If you have questions about Lyme Disease or even of just tick diseases, you need to read this book. And think about the implications presented.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insight into the hidden history of Lyme Disease, brings in personal and expert experiences that help bring the story to life.

[Jesse Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a woman’s investigation, perhaps even obsession, with modern Lyme disease’s origin story. Briefly: scientists like Willy Burgdorfer worked on programs to weaponize ticks, among other pathogen carriers, during the 1960s. Then-President Nixon ended the US bioweapons program in 1969, but not before more than one field test — Newby found military documentation of disease-bearing ticks dropped over Cuba in 1962, for example. In 1970, Lyme disease broke out in Lyme, Connecticut, a town very near Plum Island, where the government operates an animal disease research center. That location was the site of research on pathogen-bearing ticks, and did have containment breaches in the years leading up to 1970, Newby finds.

Newby is not saying that the government invented Lyme disease. More, she guesses they injected a pathogens into ticks which made the ancient disease bacteria more virulent in humans. Willy Burgdorfer, the discoverer of the Lyme-causing bacteria, also documented the culprit pathogen, a different strain of bacteria he called “Swiss agent USA.”

The inquisitive reader finishing this book quickly discovers polarized responses online, with some labeling Newby a conspiracy theorist, and others finding her story all too credible. The problem is, Newby went to press without clear proof that any bioweapons program was implicated in modern Lyme disease. She has only circumstantial evidence, she admits, but she says she hopes her work will cause others with knowledge of the events, and potentially further material evidence, to come forward and blow the whistle.

It would be useful to know the truth. Newby published her book before the COVID-19 pandemic, the origins of which also implicate government research on pathogens, though once again there is no clear material evidence as yet that the coronavirus that causes COVID was leaked from a lab. If there were such evidence, an entire re-thinking of disease research protocol seems warranted. Some, perhaps including myself, might argue that such research should be completely banned, because the law of large numbers would lead us to conclude that lab leaks are inevitable. Our efforts to control disease possibly conflict with the reality that disease outstrips controls.

Therefore, I don’t think Newby is being overly sensationalist in publishing her story. She’s right: there are compelling and unanswered questions here.

However, the book does have flaws that blunt its effect. Short as it is, it tries to do too much. The biography of Burgdorfer is not that interesting, finally. Newby’s account of experiencing Lyme disease and the horrors of misdiagnosis are compelling, but not toward the point of Lyme’s origin story. In this central plot, the role of the “Swiss agent USA” is also confusing, though admittedly science is like that: pathogens and their effects on other species are far more complex and interrelated than Burgdorger’s generation of researchers ever dreamed.

These flaws don’t invalidate all of Newby’s work, though. Even those who dismiss her conclusion must have a chill these days, whenever they hear the words “level 4 biohazard.” Hundreds of thousands contract Lyme every year now, and millions died from COVID. If grievous policy errors are leading to these outbreaks, we really should know.

[Annie O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a wild history behind Lyme. As someone who’s lived through the ups & downs of Lyme, this was fascinating and honestly super validating! ticks are goofballs 🍋‍🟩

[Ian Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a fair amount about the history of the U.S. bioweapons program, there was no lack of nefarious shit going on for decades during the Cold War. Bitten does a solid job of interweaving the history of Lyme disease with concurrent bioweapons efforts of the era and establishes reasonable plausibilities of links. It’s well-researched and is another important example highlighting the struggles of chronic Lyme-sufferers and the decades-long, pervasive dismissiveness of the disease by most in the medical community. It’s biggest fault though is that there’s too much implicit implication from the author that we are where we are with Lyme disease today because of a chain of coverups. There’s too much of a conspiratorial tone here for me, and the book reads like a thriller that’s moving towards some grand revelation at the end...but there’s no revelation. At the end of the day, hopefully this does increase awareness and spark more dialogue around the issue.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well-researched, makes a very logical argument, and I am of the opinion that it is very true. I absolutely believe that our government, as well as other governments, included biological weapon development as part of the Cold War arms race. I believe that researchers were sloppy at times, and I believe that infected tick samples were accidentally released into the US population. I believe that the lead US researcher sold samples of this to Russia, and I believe that the government undoubtedly tried to cover this up. This is a very compelling read

[Tari · Rating 1 out of 5]

The science was virtually nonexistent. As an example, the author reported identifying different spirochetes by looking at photos. I was anything convinced that she proved her premise of a secret history

[Shiny5711 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrifying.

[Gabriel Avocado · Rating 3 out of 5]

when i started this book, i wasnt really convinced of its premise. but it only took a few pages for the horror to fully sink in. i think we're just so desensitized to the idea of CIA ops or whatever that we dont really seem to accept the reality of what that entails. like, the CIA fucking poisoned people you guys. they really did dump a bunch of infected ticks over cuba in order to incapacitate sugar cane workers. they really did spray literally hundreds of thousands of new yorkers with spores to test how far a biological agent would spread. they really fucking actually did that. and more. like. the CIA is not some fictional entity that scifi writers bring out for a scare. they are still fucking killing people.

i understand how this first paragraph sounds. but i need you to really understand that i am fully on board with the idea of the CIA poisoning people with biochemical agents. im just not fully convinced when it comes to the author.

kris newby is spooky as hell. i sound super paranoid. which, fair. her father delivered the first batch of agent orange to vietnam, which was revealed and then handwaved as 'secrets' that 'cold warriors' insisted on keeping. plus she constantly reassures the reader that 'americas enemies' could hurt 'us' (not me because im not included in 'us.' im 'americas enemies' because im ooh scary third world) in vague ways. sure, she spends a huge amount of the book talking about how evil the CIA is. but somehow the message always returns to this idiotic narrative of how much the US government really loves and cares for its citizens and that really this is just the soviets fault anyway. good god, imagine finding out that the US government accidentally released ticks carrying horrific diseases into the wild and still finding time to blame the soviets--while portraying the US and the CIA as the fucking good guys!

if we follow her logic, its entirely the CIA's fault that she and thousands of others got sick. the US is a fucking cult, how do you spend so much time and money and energy researching CIA bioweapons programs and still walk away loyal to the US?

anyway, i should backtrack a little. i think her thesis is entirely plausible and that the US and CDC are deliberately ignoring lymes sufferers because theyd have to admit how those people got sick to begin with. i can believe that. ive long been skeptical of the chronic lymes movement as just a way for niche doctors to take advantage of truly sick people--especially women, who are more likely to be called hysterics than taken seriously in literally any case.

but to be entirely honest, newbys argument feels half-formed. she is repeatedly told, and reminds us, that this book could get her killed. yet i feel theres a huge chunk of this book missing. she says the soviets may have actually stolen some tick samples which accounts for the outbreak of tick-borne pathogens in russia and russian tick-borne illness appearing in the US, but at no point are we ever presented with proof of this aside from vague statements from willy burgdorfer.

and now we come to the real meaty bits. willy burgdorfer discovered lyme disease. he was heavily involved with US bioweapons programs for a huge part of his life. he 'broke his silence' on lymes shortly before his death but i dont think he actually said anything substantial. plus, the only reason the soviets are mentioned are because burgdorfer heavily IMPLIES the soviets stole info from the US bioweapons program. there is no other proof for this claim. not from burgdorfer, not from newby.

im stuck on this point not because its unlikely (i think its pretty likely actually). this whole book feels underwhelming given the claims it puts forward. holy shit, the CIA poisoned millions of people AND the soviets stole top secret tick samples from under the US government's nose? maybe that should be a bigger fucking deal? but it all feels so understated, and i think its largely because newby insists on tying the greater story of 'CIA cold war bioweapons program gone wrong' to the individual life story of willy burgdorfer.

i dont wanna be mean cuz im sure the dude meant well with what were basically death bed confessions, but this story is much bigger than he is and he should not have been the focus of this book. on top of that, announcing your loyalty to the US every few pages, ESPECIALLY after you found out your fucking spook dad delivered agent orange to continuously fuck over MILLIONS of vietnamese people TO THIS FUCKING DAY. with no due respect, go fuck yourself. how insanely evil do you have to be to defend the entity responsible for such atrocities, including, if newby is correct, a devastating disease that stole, collectively, centuries of peoples lives! i attribute this to evil rather than ignorance because no one who has dedicated so much time to speaking with and investigating spooky fucking freaks would EVER walk away whistling god bless america. jesus christ

this review is getting long and crazy but i do want to touch upon the things i liked. i alluded to this earlier but newby says some incredibly damning shit about lymes. she seems to dance around the conclusion, but it appears that what we know as lyme disease isnt actually caused by lyme disease, but by the so-called swiss agent. and i believe her when she says that the test for lymes is ineffective (this she backs up considerably better than anything she said about the soviets, to give you an idea). i mean its weird that doctors dont screen for a host of tick-borne pathogens right? why wouldnt they even try? because they 'know' only a few cause disease? i dont think its particularly outrageous to think that some pathogens thought to be harmless actually arent, especially given how diseases like lyme and rocky mountain spotted fever have spread across the country. why not just test for more things? i dont get it.

i mean i DO get it. newby says lymes vaccines make more money than treatment but like. chronic lyme treatment is MONTHS and MONTHS of intense, broad spectrum antibiotics. that is neither cheap nor quick nor easy. plus, i think people sort of underestimate just how fucking powerful antibiotics are, and taking them for MONTHS can literally kill you. i dont think theres a perfect answer or solution here but there is considerable medical abuse in the treatment of these patients. many lyme doctors have only one solution, and that is to blast it with antibiotics for months. which does seem to be a guideline recommendation for lyme disease in general, but not for these long, six months or more periods that many recommend.

im not gonna say i fully believe in chronic lymes because its up there with like, morgellons. but i do think the spread of (normal) lymes disease to places where the disease was previously not endemic to is very directly connected to the US's bioweapons program. like i said, this book feels like its missing another third. its hard for me to recommend it for that reason alone, and the previously stated patriotism is exhausting and stupid. plus i dont trust newby. no one would investigate the CIA and conclude that the US is just misguided or some fucking idiotic shit unless they were an idiot, which she clearly is not, or dishonest.

tl;dr pick it up if you want a pretty chilling but unsatisfying read. none of this should really be news to you if youre not some american obsessed with preserving your countrys integrity. every time she said 'our country' and 'our safety' i was acutely reminded that newby did NOT mean me or anyone like me. if some third world loser got sick and died because of the CIA, whatever i guess.

[Tara DuBose-Schmitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m on the fence about this one. It’s a riveting story and would make a good movie. Newby attempts a thorough investigation and finds much troubling. Did the US participate in bio weapons research? Absolutely. Did government agents weaponize disease? Almost certainly that was the goal, even since colonists gave blankets of smallpox victims to Native Americans. But there is a significant leap from that to the certainty that modern Lyme disease is intentionally bioengineered. Newby relies heavily on the quizzical admissions of an elderly scientist (dementia is a symptom of the Parkinson’s which ultimately takes his life). Many arguments are extrapolations on what is missing. Newby admits there is no smoking gun. Historically, many diseases have mutated dangerously without human intervention (1918 flu pandemic comes to mind). There may be political and financial reasons for lack of government support (this has been true for many things). So I think Bitten must be read as an account of a possibility, not iron clad fact.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. The writing itself is a bit stilted but I learned a lot about biological warfare testing in general. I also learned more than I ever want to know about ticks and the nasty diseases they carry. A lot of this book is a biography of Willy Burgdorfer who was instrumental in discovering Lyme disease but apparently he may not have disclosed everything. There are no clear answers to whether the ticks were carrying a genetically engineered myriad of diseases, but there is clearly history and evidence of biological warfare tests that involve ticks potentially debilitating communities with undetectable illnesses.

How scary to think this type of work goes on. And we're fools to think that just because it's not public, no one's working on this stuff.