The federal government is funding a new pilot program that aims to reduce Lyme disease, a disease transmitted by ticks, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on May 29.
“Millions of Americans living with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have struggled for decades to get diagnoses, treatments, and care,” Kennedy said at a briefing in Concord, New Hampshire.
“They deserve better prevention, better treatments, and real support, and today, led by the Trump administration, we’re launching one of the most ambitious federal efforts ever to combat Lyme disease, accelerate research, and improve care for patients and families.”
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be funding research at the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases and other institutions that will aim to decrease the number of ticks, in part by disrupting their breeding cycles.
“We’re going after the disease at its source,” Kennedy said.
He said that the goal was to reduce Lyme cases by 25 percent by 2035.
The exact amount of funding was not disclosed.
The New England Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases did not respond to a request for comment.
Ticks, small arachnids that feed on infected deer and other wildlife, latch on to people when they brush against vegetation such as grass.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme each year. Emergency room visits due to tick bites have been on the rise in recent months.
Officials also said on May 29 that they are opening up a competition to produce innovative Lyme tests and treatments to the public, rather than only companies and researchers who have worked with the government. Winners will receive prize money, including up to $2 million if they win the category for developing artificial intelligence tools to help Lyme patients.
Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, director of national health communications for the Office of the Surgeon General, who has assumed some duties typically performed by the surgeon general as the Senate considers President Donald Trump’s most recent nominee, said that the administration sees and hears people who have chronic Lyme disease, and is focused on preventing Lyme and associated infections.
The development came several months after Kennedy hosted a roundtable addressing Lyme and what he described as a failure to consistently diagnose and treat the disease.
“Lyme disease is an example of a chronic disease that has long been dismissed, with patients receiving inadequate care,” Kennedy said at the time. “I want to announce that the gaslighting of Lyme patients is over.”