Bella Hadid back on the catwalk after health battle: So, why do so many celebrities have Lyme disease?

“I was basically bedbound and housebound. There’d be times where I'd look at a glass of water, and think, I don’t know how to pick that up.”

While Lyme disease is rare in the UK, with around 1,500 laboratory-confirmed cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales each year (which, for a population of 67 million, is low), it’s become a hot topic among celebrities due to its prevalence in the United States, and its risk of misdiagnosis.

Lyme disease can be acquired through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, which is more commonly known as a deer tick.

It’s typically first noticed when a “bullseye” rash surrounds the infection site. The infection can cause flu-like symptoms at first, including a temperature, fever, headache, muscle or joint pain and tiredness and loss of energy.

However, it’s the long term symptoms that some celebrities have been raising awareness of recently. These are rare, occurring in 5 to 10 per cent of cases, and develop after treatment. Known as “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome”, this syndrome lead Lyme disease sufferers to develop arthritis, chronic pain, heart palpitations and brain inflammations.

Along with Bella Hadid, Justin Timberlake and Miranda Hart, many other celebrities have been open about their struggle with Lyme disease.

In 2020, Justin Bieber shared that he had been diagnosed with the disease after speculation arose around his physical appearance. Writing on Instagram, the Canadian singer said he knew people thought he was “on meth”, but “they failed to realise I've been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono [glandular fever] which affected my skin, brain function, energy, and overall health.

“It's been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever.”

Riley Keogh is another celebrity who has been open about her diagnosis, sharing that she delivered her daughter Tupelo via surrogacy due to Keogh’s Lyme-related health complications.

“I can carry children,” she told Vanity Fair, “but it felt like the best choice for what I had going on physically with the autoimmune stuff.”

Other celebrities with Lyme disease are Avril Lavigne, Alec Baldwin and Shania Twain.

There has been a huge increase in the number of people reportedly suffering from Lyme disease in the United States according to data from the CDC, though some people are suspicious of its accuracy.

Nearly half a million US citizens reported suffering from Lyme disease in 2022. But because this data is made up of self-reported diagnoses, the CDC says that this number is likely to be inflated due to patients diagnosed on “clinical suspicion” when they do not actually have Lyme disease.

This has fostered a suspicion around fake and mis-diagnoses, hence the derogatory nickname.

Lyme disease is actually very difficult to diagnose, and many celebrities have reported issues with being mistakenly diagnosed with other health conditions.

Kris Kristofferson, the country music legend who passed away in 2024 at age 88, once revealed that he was mistakenly diagnosed with Alzheimer's when he actually had Lyme disease.

Miranda Hart’s comments last October marked one of the first times a British celebrity has spoken about struggling with the disease, because it is simply not as common in the UK. There are places in the UK where Lyme disease poses more of a risk, namely the south of England and the Scottish Highlands.

In 2017, more specific high risk areas were named, including Exmoor, the New Forest and other rural areas of Hampshire, the South Downs, parts of Wiltshire and Berkshire, parts of Surrey and West Sussex, Thetford Forest in Norfolk, the Lake District, the North York Moors and the Scottish Highlands.

In the US, Lyme disease is more common, with an average of 40 cases per 100,000 people, compared to the UK, where there is an average of 2.77 cases per 100,000 people. High risk areas in the US include the northeast, upper midwest and northwestern states.