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In an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on August 2, 2026, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he believes Lyme disease was “almost certainly” the result of gain-of-function research. He described the administration’s efforts to end this type of research in the United States and prevent American funding from supporting it overseas.
RFK Speaks About Lyme Diseases Origins
08/04/26
In an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on August 2, 2026, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he believes Lyme disease was “almost certainly” the result of gain-of-function research. He described the administration’s efforts to end this type of research in the United States and prevent American funding from supporting it overseas.
His comments were not coming out of nowhere. In December 2025, Kennedy brought Lyme patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and lawmakers together at HHS to discuss the disease, including shortcomings in diagnosis and treatment. Following that meeting, participants praised his commitment to uncovering Lyme disease’s origins as well as improving diagnostics and patient care.
Then, on May 29, 2026, Kennedy announced a broader HHS initiative addressing Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses, including funding for research, diagnostic innovation, tick-control programs, and improved access to knowledgeable providers. So when he discussed Lyme’s possible laboratory origins with Bash in August, he was expanding on an issue his department had already been actively examining for months.
For more information, read HHS’s Plan to Combat Lyme.
Watch the Dana Bash and RFK interview:
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