DiPentima: HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Has 'Poor Understanding' Of Lyme Disease

By Rich DiPentima, InDepth NH

On Friday, DHHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited New Hampshire to promote improved treatment, diagnostics and prevention strategies to reduce the burden of Lyme disease. I applaud Mr. Kennedy's efforts to improve the much needed advancements in Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment, however, his approach to prevention reflects a poor understanding of the epidemiology of Lyme disease.

In his comments, Kennedy explained that the HHS is launching a “major, new multimillion dollar” program which will see the HHS and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) partner with researchers, to develop and deploy practical strategies to eliminate ticks on wildlife before they can breed on deer. This comment suggests that deer are the major reservoir for Lyme disease. In fact, most cases of Lyme disease result when individuals are bitten by infected ticks that have been on rodents and other small mammals, not deer.

Lyme disease is transmitted by infected black legged, aka deer ticks. The primary reservoir for Lyme disease in the northeastern U.S., which is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, is the white-footed mouse. When the black legged tick bites an infected mouse it becomes infected and then can transmit the disease to humans and other mammals like deer, dogs etc. As such, strategies to prevent deer from becoming infected would be very unproductive and have very limited value in reducing Lyme disease cases in humans. In order to do so, you would need to greatly reduce the number of mice and other small rodents that carry Lyme disease as well as reduce the tick population. Considering the huge population of mice and other small mammals as well as ticks, this would be impossible and a waste of resources.

What was conspicuously absent from Mr. Kennedy's prevention strategy discussion was a vaccine. This is not surprising considering Mr. Kennedy's history of anti-vaccine activity. We had a Lyme disease vaccine, LYMErix, which was voluntarily discontinued in 2002 due to low consumer demand, negative media coverage and unproven concerns regarding adverse side effects. However, Pfizer and Valneva pharmaceutical companies have developed a promising vaccine candidate known as PF-07307405 (VLA15) which is currently in phase 3 trials and could be released in 2027.

If Mr. Kennedy was truly serious about preventing Lyme disease on a large scale, the most effective and efficient means would be by developing a safe and effective vaccine. As was done during COVID under Mr. Trump's Warped Speed project, the government, working with private pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Valneva, could greatly speed up the process and have a safe and effective vaccine available next year. That would be a game changer with regard to Lyme disease primary prevention. Currently, our pet dogs get vaccinated against Lyme disease. I look forward to the day when we can also enjoy real protection from this terrible disease.

Rich DiPentima, RN, MPH, Former Asst. Director NH Division of Public Health Services, Deputy Public Health Director Manchester Health Dept., Retired Air Force Public Health Officer and former State Representative.
Portsmouth, NH 03801

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.