Bitten: The Secret Historical past of Lyme Illness and Organic Weapons

A riveting thriller harking back to The Scorching Zone, this true story dives into the thriller surrounding some of the controversial and misdiagnosed situations of our time—Lyme illness—and of Willy Burgdorfer, the person who found the microbe behind it, revealing his secret position in creating bug-borne organic weapons, and elevating terrifying questions concerning the genesis of the epidemic of tick-borne illnesses affecting tens of millions of Individuals right now.

Whereas on trip on Martha’s Winery, Kris Newby was bitten by an unseen tick. That one chunk modified her life without end, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating sickness that took ten docs to diagnose and years to recuperate: Newby had turn into one of many 300,000 Individuals who’re troubled with Lyme illness every year.

As a science author, she was pushed to grasp why this illness is so misunderstood, and its sufferers so mistreated. This quest led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the Lyme microbe’s discoverer, who revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons throughout the Chilly Battle, and believed that the Lyme epidemic was began by a navy experiment gone incorrect.

In an excellent, meticulous work of narrative journalism, Bitten takes readers on a journey to analyze these claims, from organic weapons services to interviews with biosecurity specialists and microbiologists doing cutting-edge analysis, all of the whereas uncovering darker truths about Willy. It additionally leads her to uncomfortable questions on why Lyme may be so troublesome to each diagnose and deal with, and why the federal government is so reluctant to categorise continual Lyme as a illness.

A gripping, infectious page-turner, Bitten will shed a terrifying new mild on an epidemic that’s exacting an incalculable toll on us, upending a lot of what we consider we learn about it.