Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons - Softcover

Newby, Kris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062896288 ISBN 13: 9780062896285

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, 2020

Synopsis

A riveting thriller reminiscent of The Hot Zone, this true story dives into the mystery surrounding one of the most controversial and misdiagnosed conditions of our time—Lyme disease—and of Willy Burgdorfer, the man who discovered the microbe behind it, revealing his secret role in developing bug-borne biological weapons, and raising terrifying questions about the genesis of the epidemic of tick-borne diseases affecting millions of Americans today.

While on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Kris Newby was bitten by an unseen tick. That one bite changed her life forever, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating illness that took ten doctors to diagnose and years to recover: Newby had become one of the 300,000 Americans who are afflicted with Lyme disease each year.

As a science writer, she was driven to understand why this disease is so misunderstood by the medical establishment, and its patients so mistreated. This quest led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the Lyme microbe’s discoverer, who revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons during the Cold War, and believed that the Lyme epidemic was started by a military experiment gone wrong.

In a superb, meticulous work of narrative journalism, Bitten takes readers on a journey to investigate these claims, from biological weapons facilities to interviews with biosecurity experts and microbiologists doing cutting-edge medical research, all the while uncovering darker truths about Willy. It also leads her to uncomfortable questions about why Lyme can be so difficult to both diagnose and treat, and why the government is so reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as a disease, a question central to the patient advocacy movement.

A gripping, infectious page-turner, Bitten will shed a terrifying new light on a public health epidemic that is exacting an incalculable toll on us, upending much of what we believe we know about it.

This essential investigation reveals:

• Secret History: The story of Willy Burgdorfer, the scientist who discovered the Lyme microbe but also secretly developed bug-borne biological weapons during the Cold War.
• Military Experiments: A deep-dive into the chilling theory that the epidemic was started by a military experiment gone wrong, with evidence from declassified documents and expert interviews.
• Chronic Lyme Disease: An unflinching look at why the government and medical community struggle to acknowledge a debilitating condition that affects hundreds of thousands, driven by the author’s own harrowing experience.
• Investigative Journalism: A journey from top-secret biological weapons labs to cutting-edge microbiology research, following a trail of cover-ups and uncomfortable truths.

About this title

About the Author

Kris Newby is an award-winning science writer and the senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary Under Our Skin, a 2010 Oscar semifinalist. Her first book, Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons, won three international book awards for journalism and narrative nonfiction. She has two engineering degrees and has worked as a science/technology writer for Stanford Medical School, Apple, and other Silicon Valley companies.

From the Back Cover

While vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, Kris Newby was bitten by an unseen tick. That one bite changed her life forever, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating illness that took ten doctors to diagnose and years to recover from: Newby had joined the ranks of the 400,000 Americans who are afflicted with Lyme disease each year.

As a science writer, she was driven to understand why this disease is so misunderstood and its patients so mistreated. This quest led her to Willy Burgdorfer, the Lyme microbe’s discoverer, who revealed that he had developed bug-borne bioweapons during the Cold War and believed that the Lyme epidemic was started by a military experiment gone wrong.

In a superb, meticulous work of narrative journalism, Bitten takes readers on a journey to investigate these claims—from tours of biological weapons facilities to interviews with biosecurity experts and microbiologists doing cutting-edge research—all the while uncovering darker truths about Burgdorfer. It also leads Newby to uncomfortable questions about why Lyme can be so difficult to both diagnose and treat, and why the government is so reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as a disease.

A gripping, infectious page-turner, Bitten will shed a terrifying new light on an epidemic that is exacting an incalculable toll on us, upending much of what we believe we know about it.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062896288
• ISBN 13: 9780062896285
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336