What causes the strange actions of the afflicted? In the bread in Salem they used rye to make it. A disease that is known as rye disease which can cause many mental behaviors. Lyme disease in the air. The ticks that hold lyme disease were very common in the salem village area. They could have left the marks on the afflicted and caused many many strange behaviors. In Document D it says that the jury is acting to pass out so this proves that disease is still a possibility. On document E it shows a map about where witches accusers and defenders were mostly on the left side where bread was more common and ticks were more common. This shows that the more population in an area the more bugs that are attracted