CDC Advisor Uses AI to Revive Hoax that Lyme Disease is a U.S. Government-Engineered Bioweapon

Orginally published in Newsguard

What’s happening: Robert Malone, an anti-vaccine activist appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is resurrecting the long-debunked claim that Lyme disease is a U.S. government-engineered bioweapon, using what he called an “AI-driven investigation.”

A closer look: In a March 4 article on Substack, where Malone has 353,000 Substack subscribers, Malone wrote:

• “An extensive investigation based on declassified government documents and previously suppressed scientific research has uncovered compelling evidence that U.S. biological weapons programs contributed to the emergence of Lyme disease, which now affects hundreds of thousands of Americans annually.”

Malone’s article relied on unspecified AI tools to resurface debunked arguments to support the discredited bioweapon theory. For example, Malone’s article referenced the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in Plum Island, New York. That facility has long been theorized as the source of the alleged Lyme disease bioweapon because of its proximity to Lyme, Connecticut, where the disease was first identified, and the fact that the center was once used by the U.S. Army for biological weapons research.

• In his article, Malone also said, “Whether through accidental release, environmental testing, or enhancement of natural transmission, the extensive evidence suggests laboratory activities contributed to America’s Lyme disease epidemic.”

• In a March 4 interview by One America News Network (OANN) anchor Chanel Rion asked Malone about his article. “There is abundant evidence of the field testing of ticks” by the U.S. government involving the Plum Island facility, Malone stated. The on-air headline read, “Lyme Disease Being Used As a Bioweapon?”

Conspiratorial social media users subsequently cited Malone’s article as proof that their claims about Lyme disease’s origins as a bioweapon had been validated. Lyme disease is an illness caused by a bacteria known as borrelia bacteria, according to the Mayo Clinic. Humans typically contract Lyme disease via bites from ticks carrying the bacteria.

• X user @MJTruthUltra linked to Malone’s article and stated in a March 5 post: “Dear conspiracy theorists.. sadly, you were right again…” The post received 3.4 million views and 51,000 likes in two days.

• Liz Churchill, a conservative commentator with 867,000 followers on X, posted a screenshot of Malone’s article on March 6 with the caption: “The Conspiracy Theorists were right again…Declassified documents link a U.S. Bioweapons program to Lyme disease.” The post received 31,200 views and 3,700 likes in one day.

Actually: There is no evidence that Lyme disease was created as a bioweapon by the U.S. government, and Malone’s claims do not hold up under scrutiny.

• The U.S. did have a biological weapons program between 1942 and 1969, according to a 1997 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, scientists have found that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has existed for at least 60,000 years.

• “That alone is proof that the conspiracy theory is wrong,” Tufts University infectious disease professor and Lyme disease researcher Sam Telford wrote in a 2019 article for The Conversation.

• A NewsGuard review found that the declassified documents referenced by Malone related to Cold War-era biological weapons research in general — not to anything that specifically linked that research to Lyme disease.

Zooming out: Malone’s comments represent the resurgence of a claim that has circulated for many years, and has been bolstered by high-profile figures including HHS Secretary Kennedy himself. As reported by NewsGuard in February 2025, the claim resurfaced during Kennedy’s January 2025 confirmation hearing.

• In the Jan. 29, 2025, hearing, Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett of Colorado asked Kennedy, “Did you say that Lyme disease is a highly likely militarily engineered bioweapon?” Kennedy responded, “I probably did say that.”

Malone did not respond to an email from NewsGuard seeking comment on his article.