U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is supporting a bipartisan effort to respond to the increasing number of Lyme disease cases and other tick-borne illnesses surging across Pennsylvania and other parts of the country.
“The surge in Lyme cases we’re seeing today is no surprise — it’s the consequence of years of warnings met with insufficient action,” Rep. Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve been working alongside local health leaders, scientists, and advocates to change that.”
The congressman said he supports a bipartisan legislative package to address the Lyme disease crisis.
For instance, on July 15, Rep. Fitzpatrick signed on as a cosponsor of the bipartisan H.R. 4348, which would reauthorize the Kay Hagan Tick Act and reestablish a national strategy through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to prevent, detect, and treat tick-borne illnesses, while strengthening coordination across federal agencies and state and local partners. U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced H.R. 4348 on July 10.
Rep. Fitzpatrick also supports the LymeX Authorization Act, which would bolster public-private innovation in diagnostics, testing, and treatment, modeled after the successful RADx program.
Along with H.R. 4348, the LymeX bill is part of the Labor HHS Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026, S. 2587, which the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved on July 31 with a vote of 26-3, advancing it to the full Senate for consideration.
If enacted, S. 2587 would provide funding increases that impact Lyme, alpha-gal, and other tick-borne diseases, including $1 million for the Kay Hagan Tick Act; $10 million to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for Lyme and tick-borne disease research setting the new minimum spend to $110 million; $5 million for LymeX specifically to be managed by the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer; and $27 million to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an Aug. 1 statement, Rep. Fitzpatrick also said he supports expanding federal disability protections for children suffering long-term impacts from Lyme disease, and providing CDC grants for states to launch photo-based tick identification and tracking programs to better assess spread and patterns.
The congressman also endorsed a plan to create the first-ever national response system for vector-borne disease outbreaks, using AI and geolocation to notify families of tick hotspots in real time, and to establish a new postage stamp to raise funds for research through the NIH, supplementing federal appropriations for Lyme and tick-borne illness innovation.
“We’ve built a bipartisan coalition and advanced serious initiatives to modernize our national response — prioritizing prevention, faster diagnostics, more effective treatments, and sustained research,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick. “This work is far from finished, and I’ll continue driving it forward until our community no longer has to face this crisis without the full weight of federal support behind it.”
According to the CDC, Pennsylvania has led the nation in total Lyme disease cases in 11 of the past 12 years, consistently accounting for nearly 30 percent of all infections nationwide, according to Rep. Fitzpatrick’s statement, and experts warn that climate change, land development, and ecological disruption are accelerating tick activity and disease transmission.
“Lyme disease is a relentless, exhausting disease with life-altering consequences. And right now, Pennsylvania is ground zero,” Rep. Fitzpatrick said. “That’s why I’ve made this a top priority. We need to double down on public health investments, support the scientific community, and provide patients with better tools and faster answers.”