Did the US military cause Lyme disease? Pentagon is urged to investigate whether ticks were developed as 'biological weapons' in the 1950s amid rise in debilitating disease
- A bill orders investigation into use of ticks for biological warfare experiments
- Pentagon officials must determine whether the ticks were released
- Cases of Lyme disease in the US have more than doubled in the past 20 years
- Celebrities who have battled the disease include Shania Twain and Ben Stiller
- The illness, caught from ticks bites, causes serious health problems if untreated
The Pentagon has been urged to investigate whether ticks were developed as 'biological weapons' amid a rise in Lyme disease cases in the US.
A bill passed in the House of Representatives by a vote last week has demanded a thorough investigation into the source of the illness.
Pentagon officials will determine whether ticks and other insects were 'weaponised' and used in experiments by the Department of Defense between 1950 and 1975.
Politicians also demanded they reveal whether any ticks or insects used in such experiments were released outside of any laboratory either by accident or on purpose.
The number of reported cases of Lyme disease in the US has more than doubled since the mid-1990s, according to official figures.
Lyme disease is uncommon but can have crippling and even deadly effects – it's most often spread by the bites of ticks.
US celebrities including Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Ben Stiller, and Alec Baldwin have all spoken about debilitating symptoms they battled after contracting the disease in the past.
Country music legend Shania Twain had to retrain her voice after she developed dysphonia - a condition affecting the muscles of the larynx - as a result of Lyme disease
Avril Lavigne revealed she spent five months bedridden as a result of Lyme disease in 2015
Hollywood actor Ben Stiller said Lyme disease 'never leaves your system'
New Jersey Republican Rep. Christopher Smith (pictured) said: We need answers and we need them now'
New Jersey Republican representative Christopher Smith wrote the amendment to the 2020 defence authorisation bill.
Congressman Smith said: 'We need answers and we need them now.'
Mr Smith demanded to know who ordered the potential programme and uncover if there was ever a release of diseased ticks.
The Defence Authorisation Bill must still pass in the Senate before it can be signed by President Trump.
Mr Smith said he was inspired to add the amendment to the defence bill after reading a number of books and articles.
These suggested that significant research had been done at US government facilities including Fort Detrick, Maryland and Plum Island, New York to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons.'
A book released in May this year titled 'BITTEN: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons' brought to light a possible link between the rise of Lyme disease and U.S. germ warfare.
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The book, written by Kris Newby, claims that the discoverer of the Lyme pathogen, Willy Burgdorfer, believed that the disease was a military experiment gone wrong.
Many experts have dismissed the idea as a conspiracy theory, but the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said Lyme disease cases are on the rise.
Its figures show there were 29,500 confirmed cases in 2017, up from just 12,800 in 1996.
Lyme disease is transmitted through the bite of infected black-legged ticks and if left untreated can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system, and prove deadly.
According to Public Health England, infections there rose by up to 35 per cent between 2016 and 2017, with a surge in southeastern areas such as Kent, Sussex and Essex.
There are approximately 2,000 to 3,000 cases in England and Wales every year.
Country legend Shania Twain had to retrain her voice after she developed dysphonia - affects the muscles of the larynx - as a result of the Lyme disease she contracted during her 2003 Up! tour.
In response to rumours she was in rehab, Sk8er Boi singer Avril Lavigne revealed she actually spent five months bedridden as a result of Lyme disease in 2015.
Ms Lavigne even said she 'accepted death' when she could 'feel her body shutting down'. Now recovered, she reflects on the period as a 'battle of a lifetime'.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Hadid has been battling Lyme disease remissions for years after finally being diagnosed in 2012. Doctors previously thought it was ME.
And her daughter Bella Hadid, who models for Victoria's Secret, also suffers from the 'invisible illness' and has said she does not know what it is like to wake up without bone pain or brain fog.
Hollywood actor Ben Stiller was diagnosed in 2010. Although symptom free, he has said it 'never leaves your system'.
Alec Baldwin believed Lyme disease would kill him, after being bitten around 20 years ago, while Kelly Osbourne suffered a sore throat, stomach pains and other symptoms after being bitten at her father, Ozzy Osbourne's birthday garden party in 2004.
A book released in May this year titled 'BITTEN: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons' brought to light a possible link between the rise of Lyme disease and US germ warfare
