U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) last week continued her efforts to fight the growing public health crisis of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses among Americans.
“Lyme disease was identified more than 40 years ago, yet there is still no gold standard for treatment,” Sen. Collins said during a Sept. 5 U.S. Senate field hearing held at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Diagnostic and Research Laboratory Tick Lab in Orono, Maine. “Existing prevention, education and diagnostic efforts are helpful but remain fragmented.”
Prior to the hearing, Sen. Collins toured the Orono lab, which provides tick diagnostics, offers public outreach, and conducts applied research on ticks throughout her home state.
During the hearing, entitled “The TICK Act: An Urgent Public Health Response to Tick-Borne Diseases,” Sen. Collins heard from several witnesses who testified about the ongoing health crisis related to ticks and their efforts to intervene.
“I greatly appreciated our extraordinary group of witnesses who took the time to share their scientific expertise as well as their personal experiences with Lyme disease,” said Sen. Collins. “I was also very impressed to see firsthand the outstanding work being done by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Tick Lab to better understand the diseases ticks carry and to protect Mainers.”
The hearing follows Sen. Collins’ introduction in May of a bipartisan bill that would take a three-pronged approach to fight Lyme and other tick and vector-borne diseases.
The Ticks: Identify, Control, and Knockout (TICK) Act, S. 1657, which Sen. Collins sponsored on May 23 with cosponsor U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), would “provide assistance to combat the escalating burden” of such diseases, according to the bill’s text.
The same-named H.R. 3073, introduced in June by U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), has 41 cosponsors.
“A correct and early diagnosis can reduce costs and improve the prognosis, but we have a long way to go,” Sen. Collins said during the field hearing. “The TICK Act would help unite our efforts against ticks.”