American Notes MICHIGAN

Though it is rarely fatal, can be controlled by antibiotics and struck only 5,000 people nationwide last year, Lyme disease has become as dreaded as the black plague. Two weeks ago, the hysterical overreaction to the tick-borne affliction reached a new peak. Obsessed with fear that he had contracted Lyme disease when he was bitten by ticks on fur-trapping expeditions over the years and then passed it along to his spouse, a 73-year-old man killed his wife and then himself with a twelve-gauge shotgun in their East Detroit home.

Charles Bodeck, a retired autoworker, had been assured by doctors that he was not infected and that it is virtually impossible to pass the disease to another person. But Bodeck, described by relatives as a hypochondriac, did not believe them. When police found him, his mailbox was jammed with material describing the disease. Police also found a slip confirming that Bodeck had an appointment next week for yet another Lyme-disease test.