A highly magnified look at the underside of a deer tick, a primary vector for Lyme Disease. Congress has tasked the Government Accountability Office with researching whether the Defense Department weaponized ticks with Lyme disease as part of a Cold War-era bioweapons program, in hopes that finding an origin can lead toward better testing, treatments and cures. (Graham Snodgrass/U.S. Army Public Health Center)
Congress tasked a government watchdog with researching whether the Defense Department weaponized ticks with Lyme disease as part of a Cold War-era bioweapons program, in hopes that finding an origin can lead toward better testing, treatments and cures.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., added the amendment to the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which specifically calls on the Government Accountability Office to review government documents from Jan. 1, 1945, through Dec. 31, 1972, regarding experiments with two forms of tick-borne bacteria, spirochaetales and rickettsiales.
“The hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans suffering from Lyme disease — in addition to the millions across the United States — deserve to know the truth about the origins of their illness. An enhanced understanding of how Lyme came to be will only assist in finding a cure for this debilitating disease,” Smith said in a statement.
He is co-chair of the Congressional Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Caucus and put forward similar amendments in 2019 and 2021. Each passed the House but failed in the Senate.
Lyme disease is an illness caused by bacteria carried by black-legged ticks, or deer ticks. People can become infected when bitten by a tick that transfers the bacteria under the skin and causes an infection. When diagnosed and treated early, many patients recover, but it can develop into a chronic illness, according to the Global Lyme Alliance, which funds research for the disease.
Early symptoms can include severe headaches and neck stiffness, joint and muscle pain, heart palpitations and facial paralysis, according to the alliance. In later stages, symptoms can include debilitating neurological and cognitive impairments and difficulty sleeping.
Roughly 476,000 new cases of Lyme are diagnosed in the U.S. each year, according to the alliance.
The Comptroller General of the United States has two years to provide documentation of the Cold War research conducted by the Defense Department with help from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Agriculture, according to the National Defense Authorization Act.
Documents should include any information about the use of ticks as hosts or delivery mechanisms for biological warfare agents, and any efforts on improving the effectiveness and viability of the two types of bacteria by combining it with other diseases or viruses. The review should also uncover where the research facilities were located.
Smith said the amendment was inspired by a surge of Lyme disease in his state, and he looked toward military research after reading the book “Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme disease and Biological Weapons,” by Kris Newby. The book included interviews with the late Dr. Willy Burgdorfer, the researcher who is credited with discovering Lyme Disease and also served as a bioweapons specialist employed by the U.S. government.
“GAO will be fully empowered to leave no stone unturned, and now it’ll have a congressional mandate to get to the bottom of it,” Smith said last month during a Lyme disease discussion hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
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