Pentagon probe to focus on claim military tried to weaponise ticks
It sounds like the stuff of extreme conspiracy theory, but the Pentagon has been asked to examine if the spread of Lyme disease is the result of an US military mission to weaponise ticks.
As cases of the disease rise in the US, a politician has demanded answers on the possible testing of ticks and other insects as potential biological weapons.
Chris Smith, a Republican congressman for New Jersey, tabled a vote, which passed last week, which compels the Pentagon inspector general to investigate the matter.
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.
Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.
It is easily treatable with a three-week course of antibiotics if caught early, but if left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.
Lyme disease is not common in the UK, but in the US, approximately 30,000 cases are reported each year by state health departments.
The disease is on the rise: in 1997 there were 12,800 confirmed cases, rising to 29,500 in 2017 – the most recent year for which data is available.
Smith asked the Pentagon to report on whether the military ‘‘experimented with ticks and other insects regarding its use as a biological weapon between the years of 1950 and 1975’’.
He wanted to know who ordered the programme, whether there was ever an accidental release of diseased ticks and whether the programme contributed to the increase of Lyme disease.
‘‘My amendment tasks the DOD inspector general to ask the hard questions and report back,’’ he said.
Smith said that he was inspired to add the amendment to the annual defence bill by ‘‘a number of books and articles suggesting significant research had been done at US government facilities ... to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons’’.
Some theorists have suggested that bioweapon specialists packed ticks with pathogens that could cause severe disabilities, disease and death.
Experts have dismissed the idea as a conspiracy theory. But Smith, co-chairman of the House Lyme disease caucus, has been a strong advocate for further research into the disease.
Earlier this year, he introduced the ‘‘Ticks: Identify, Control, and Knockout Act’’ to come up with a national strategy to fight Lyme disease and provide substantial funding for it.
In the UK, ticks that may cause Lyme disease are found all over the country, but high-risk areas include grassy and wooded areas in southern England and the Scottish Highlands.
In 2015 John Caudwell, the billionaire founder of Phones4u, revealed that 11 members of his family had been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
His son Rufus has suffered with Lyme disease for 12 years, with the condition becoming so severe that he was left housebound for two and a half years.
– Telegraph Group The former King of Malaysia who renounced his title after marrying a Russian beauty queen 22 years his junior has divorced her less than 13 months later. Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, 49, pictured, abdicated in January after the country’s Islamic royals expressed unease at his marriage to Oksana Voevodina, 27, who used the name Rihana Oksana Petra.
The couple married on June 7 last year but a divorce was finalised on July 1 this year after papers were submitted to Singapore’s Syariah Court, according to reports in Kuala Lumpur and Moscow.
– The Times