No, Lyme disease did not originate as a bioweapon

By: Arron Williams
August 8 2023

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Context

Users on YouTube and TikTok have claimed that Lyme disease originated as a bioweapon in the United States in the 1970s. Some claims state that Lyme disease was developed at a facility on Plum Island, New York, or in Fort Detrick, Maryland, whereas others claim that it is part of a genetically modified (GMO) agenda linked to genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida.

In fact

Evidence shows that Lyme disease has been historically present before research within the United States. There is no evidence that it originated as a bioweapon.

According to research from Yale University, Lyme disease was first described in 1976 in Lyme County, Connecticut, but research suggests the disease has been circulating in forests for roughly 60,000 years. Yale states that "the findings clarify that the bacterium is not a recent invader." 

The research collected over 7,000 deer ticks from Cape Cod and analyzed the DNA of Lyme disease. Through this method, researchers could draw an evolutionary map suggesting that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease originated in the North East of the United States before humans arrived 24,000 years ago.  

Additionally, Dr. Sam Telford, a Professor of Infectious diseases at Cummings School of Veterinary Health and an expert on Lyme disease, addressed these claims in a Washington Post article. He states that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease was in the wild decades before it was identified, evidenced by research that shows ticks collected in 1945, along with mice in 1896, were infected with this bacteria. This is substantial evidence that Lyme disease did not originate in a U.S. military lab.

Dr. Telford also states that while U.S. military research has focused on ticks, cases of Lyme disease have been reported in states far from any research centers. He further emphasizes that the presence of Lyme disease is not the result of a military lab leak. Logically Facts contacted Dr. Telford for comment but has yet to receive a reply.

According to a 2019 article in The Guardian, the U.S. House of Representatives called for an investigation into Lyme disease and whether its spread in the U.S. resulted from a Pentagon biological weapons experiment using ticks. There is no evidence that the assessment has concluded and is likely ongoing. However, the findings of such an investigation would not be evidence that Lyme disease originated as a bioweapon; it would only identify whether research into biological weapons and Lyme disease happened.

Yale University further states that the current increase and epidemic of Lyme disease in North America results from rising deer populations in suburban areas due to ecological changes. Other factors influencing the spread of Lyme disease are climate change and a lack of predators. Warmer winters have accelerated ticks' lifecycles, allowing them to spread further north. 

Some posts have made a link between claims that Lyme disease is a bioweapon and genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida. These claims state that GMO mosquitoes are part of a plan by Bill Gates to spread diseases. Logically Facts has previously checked this claim and found it false. 

The verdict

The evidence shows that Lyme disease is a naturally occurring bacterial infection; it was not created, nor did it originate as a bioweapon. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.