summary

Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change documents the global and dangerous spread of Lyme disease to multitudes of people around the United States and the world. At the same time, this seminal book is the untold and dramatic story of a painful disease that science has yet to unravel.

As the nation’s leading investigative writer on Lyme disease, author Mary Beth Pfeiffer shows ticks climbing mountains and crossing borders as temperatures rise, forests are fragmented, and species lost. Indeed, this army of ticks -- in urban parks, suburban yards, and at the edges of school playgrounds -- is rooted in an uncomfortable truth. Ultimately, it is we who unleashed them.

Moreover, and of urgent importance, Pfeiffer challenges medical dogma that has dictated care for two decades and which holds, wrongly, that Lyme disease is straightforward to diagnose and treat.

Pfeiffer exposes the failure of government and medicine to prevent rapidly spreading infection, address poor diagnostic tests, and help many thousands of patients whose symptoms -- body pain, crippling fatigue, and neurological, psychiatric, and memory issues -- can linger long after treatment.

In beautiful written stories, she gives voice to patients whose illnesses have been dismissed and to doctors whose treatments have put their licenses in jeopardy. She tells of scientists whose emerging studies suggest the threat of tick-borne diseases is far greater than originally thought and methods to treat them inadequate. Lyme is an impeccably researched account of an enigmatic disease that makes a powerful case for action to combat ticks, address the pain of patients, and recognize humanity's role in creating an epidemic.