Ticks as biological weapons - House of Representatives orders investigations

[womanofthehills]

House of Representatives orders Pentagon to investigate whether ticks were once used as biological weaponsCNN)The US House of Representatives has ordered an investigation into whether the Department of Defense experimented with ticks and other insects as biological weapons.

In an amendment passed last week, the House calls for the Defense Department's Inspector General to look at whether any such experiments were done between the years 1950 and 1975.

The amendment was introduced by New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith who said he was inspired to write it by "a number of books and articles suggesting 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."
"If true, what were the parameters of the program? Who ordered it?" Smith said during a debate for the amendment. "Was there any accidental release anywhere or at any time of any of the diseased ticks?"

Each year, nearly 30,000 cases of Lyme Disease are reported to the CDC, which also says that more than 300,000 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. In 2017, a total of 42,743 confirmed and probable cases of Lyme Disease were reported to the CDC, 17% more than in 2016, according to the agency.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/politics/lyme-disease-amendment-investigation/index.html