Reed Helps Pass Tick Research Bill to Combat Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Illnesses

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate passed the Kay Hagan Tick Act ( S.2398 ), reauthorizing through 2030 the nation’s existing framework for tick-borne disease to ensure the program to improve research, prevention, diagnostics, and treatment for tick-borne diseases continues. Federal funding for that program lapsed last September and may now be renewed. U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), who cosponsored the legislation, which is championed by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tina Smith (D-MN), has been fighting for people impacted by tick-borne illnesses for years and has spearheaded efforts to increase federal funding to combat the spread of ticks and find a cure and effective treatments. The Kay Hagan Tick Act unites the effort to confront the alarming public health threat posed by Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. The bill is named in honor of former U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), who passed away in the fall of 2019, at age 66, due to complications from the tick-borne disease known as the Powassan virus, which she contracted just three years earlier. “This bill is a tribute to our former colleague, Kay Hagan, and to families everywhere impacted by tick bites. The federal government must invest in research to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and help researchers diagnose people quickly and accurately and connect them to effective treatments that can save lives and lead to better health outcomes for people who are suffering,” said Senator Reed, who also noted he wants to see federal support for important tick research in Rhode Island. “America’s tick problem is growing and the size of the federal investment we make in combatting ticks needs to keep pace. The Kay Hagan Tick Act has already improved public health knowledge and prevention strategies, but we've got to do more." Reed noted the University of Rhode Island is doing impressive work tracking the spread of ticks and educating people about ticks, tick-borne illnesses, and tick surveillance. Congress first passed the Kay Hagan Tick Act in 2019 and authorized $150 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve research, testing, and treatment of tickborne illnesses and to coordinate tick research efforts across multiple departments. The law also authorized the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide $20 million in annual federal grants to state and local health departments and for public outreach and tick safety awareness and education campaigns. Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is fighting to provide a total of $275 million in federal funding for research of ticks and tickborne diseases in the 2027 federal budget, a significant $90 million boost over what Congress allocated in fiscal year 2026 toward these efforts. Reed says it is a needed investment given that Lyme disease alone is estimated to cost the U.S. health system over $1 billion each year, and that figure does not fully account for other tick-borne infections, veterinary care, or livestock industry losses. In fact, a 2025 report found that: “Each year diseases caused by tick-borne pathogens result in an estimated 13-19 billion USD in losses to livestock producers in the United States alone.” There are about 15 disease microbes transmitted by a variety of ticks in different regions of the United States. The deer tick, found widely in the Northeast, transmits seven diseases, including the “big three” most common illnesses: Lyme disease, ; which is the most prevalent; Anaplasmosis, which infects white cells and causes systemic illness; and Babesiosis, a blood infection that can cause severe illness caused by the parasite babesia microti that is spread to humans by ticks who get it from white-footed mice. Also increasingly prevalent in New England is the Lone Star tick (named for the distinctive white patch on the back of females) which can induce an allergic reaction through their bite that can cause Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS), which sometimes causes a red meat allergy, flu-like symptoms, and other side effects. Other serious ailments spread by certain types of ticks include Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the Powassan virus. Data collected through URI’s TickEncounter program , led by Dr. Thomas Mather (also known as “The TickGuy” ), shows a 1,300 percent increase in Lone Star tick encounters recorded by residents in the Ocean State over the last decade. Another tick, the invasive longhorned tick has also moved into parts of Rhode Island, especially on Block Island and southern Rhode Island coastal communities. “Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses continue to pose serious, growing public health challenges. We’ve made a lot of progress but more must be done. Federal research and intervention investments are critical to staying ahead of these often-mysterious diseases and keeping people safe, particularly here in Rhode Island and throughout the Northeast,” said Reed, who was instrumental in establishing a national strategy to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases in 2016 . Using a three-pronged approach, the Kay Hagan Tick Reauthorization Act would: Require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to continue implementing and updating, as appropriate, its National Public Health Strategy to Prevent and Control Vector-Borne Diseases in People. This strategy has been integral in expanding research into tick-borne diseases, improving testing and diagnostics, and coordinating efforts across the federal government. Reauthorize Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease for five years. Funding for these centers, which was allotted in 2017, expires this year. These Centers have led the scientific response against tick-borne diseases, which now make up 75 percent of vector-borne diseases in the U.S. Reauthorize CDC Grants to State Health Departments to improve data collection and analysis, support early detection and diagnosis, improve treatment, and raise awareness. These awards would help states continue to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other vector-borne diseases and amplify their initiatives through public-private partnerships. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar measure. The two chambers must pass the same language before the bill can be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.