‘The Quiet Epidemic’ Shines a Light on Chronic Lyme Disease

Dr. Rick Ostfeld from the Cary Institute in Millbrook, New York, demonstrates how easily a tick can be missed, pictured here alongside the nail of his index finger. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

A black-legged tick is imaged under a microscope. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

While tracking the spread of Lyme disease, an ecologist removes a black-legged tick from a migratory bird in Kalamazoo, Michigan. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

Enrico Bruzzese dances with his daughter, Julia, at her Sweet Sixteeen birthday party in Brooklyn. Julia is wheelchair bound, and seated on a stool for their first dance. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

An illustration of a spirochete, the corkscrew-shaped bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete has the ability to swiftly move through the body, entering tissue and evading detection in the bloodstream. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

Plastic measuring cups filled with a month’s worth of medication and supplements required to treat Julia Bruzzese for chronic Lyme disease. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

Julie Bruzzese held up by her father and brother in order to have her standing heart rate monitored during an appointment with her Lyme disease specialist, Dr. Richard Horowitz. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

The mouth of the Connecticut river where it meets Long Island Sound. Lyme disease was discovered in nearby Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

A black-legged tick quests on a blade of grass in Fairfield, Connecticut. While questing, ticks outstretch their legs in order to climb onto a passing host. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC

In an effort to heal damage caused by Lyme disease, 15-year-old Julia Bruzzese receives an injection of experimental stem cells at a clinic in New Delhi, India. COURTESY THE QUIET EPIDEMIC