Public health officials said that Kennedy\u2019s belief in conspiracy theories about Lyme disease detracts from awareness campaigns about the ticks that cause it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need help understanding and it really pays to know what kind of tick you\u2019re bitten by before you jump down the rabbit hole of researching Lyme disease,\u201d said Thomas Mather, a leading tick expert. <\/p>\n
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As part of Kennedy\u2019s \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d plan, the US Department of Health and Human Services will relaunch testing and treatment efforts \u201cgrounded in the real-world experiences of patients,\u201d Kennedy said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Specifically, HHS announced<\/a> the renewal of the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, a partnership <\/b>with the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation that began during President Trump\u2019s first term. The $10 million initiative will advance artificial intelligence tools that support \u201cearlier and more accurate detection across stages of infection,\u201d HHS officials said in a <\/b>press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor decades, Americans suffering from Lyme disease have been denied the accurate diagnostics and meaningful care they deserve,\u201d Kennedy said<\/a> in the release.<\/p>\n Mather said he agrees that there should be more awareness about Lyme disease and the specific tick that carries the bacteria: the blacklegged or deer tick.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t disagree with the fact that more effort needs to be taken to uncover what\u2019s going on,\u201d said Mather, a professor of public health entomology at the University of Rhode Island who is nicknamed \u201cThe Tick Guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Mather noted that while deer ticks cause Lyme disease, other species of tick can lead to other health problems like Alpha-gal syndrome<\/a> and Powassan virus<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kennedy said that after one of his sons became infected with Lyme disease, he suffered facial paralysis for almost a year.<\/p>\n In January 2024, Kennedy said on his podcast that it was \u201chighly likely\u201d that Lyme disease was developed in a military lab on Long Island, N.Y. <\/p>\n That\u2019s completely wrong, said Mather, who has studied the history of scientific discoveries related to the bacteria that causes Lyme disease in humans.<\/p>\n A scientist named Willy Burgdorfer<\/a> discovered the bacteria in ticks<\/a> on Long Island in 1981, Mather said. The discovery led scientists to search for and identify the same bacteria in mice from as far back as the 1800s, long before when Kennedy claims Lyme disease was released by the military as a bioweapon, Mather said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a conspiracy theory,\u201d Mather said. \u201cThe issue is research has shown that Lyme disease was in ticks long before we knew what caused Lyme disease in people.\u201d<\/p>\n Lyme disease is spread to people through the bite of deer ticks, <\/b>according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n Each year, nearly half a million people in the US may be diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease, according to the CDC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The CDC says typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system, the agency says.<\/p>\n In June, visits to emergency rooms for tick bites reached their highest levels in at least five years in New England and other nearby states, according to data from the CDControl<\/a>. That month, 233 out of 100,000 ER visits in the Northeast were for tick bites, nearly double the national average of 118, the Globe reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Populations of deer, which carry ticks, have spiked on Martha\u2019s Vineyard and Nantucket, leading officials there to expand hunting season<\/a> in order to reduce the risk of humans being infected. <\/p>\n Claire Thornton can be reached at claire.thornton@globe.com<\/a>. Follow Claire on X @claire_thornto<\/a>.<\/p>\n