I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2877
To provide for the expansion and intensification of efforts for prevention, 
education, and research activities with respect to Lyme and other tick-
borne diseases, including the establishment of a Tick-Borne Diseases 
Advisory Committee. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 14, 2005
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. GILCHREST, and Mr. PLATTS) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To provide for the expansion and intensification of efforts 
for prevention, education, and research activities with 
respect to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, including 
the establishment of a Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory 
Committee.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Act for Lyme Edu-
cation and Research and Tick-Borne Diseases’’ or the 
‘‘ALERT Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The United States alone has 82 species of 
ticks causing at least 10 major diseases, which are 
Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, human monocytic 
ehrlichosis, babesiosis, tick paralysis, relapsing fever, 
tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado 
tick fever, and southern tick-associated rash illness 
(STARI) (also known as Masters’ disease). New tick 
species continue to be classified, and new diseases 
continue to emerge. 
(2) Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-
borne disease in the United States today. 
(3) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, only 10 percent of cases that 
meet its surveillance criteria are reported; thus, an 
estimated 200,000 to 240,000 new cases occur each 
year. 
(4) Tests to detect serum antibodies for Lyme 
disease can yield a high number of false-positive and 
false-negative results. False-negative results may 
delay diagnosis and treatment, which may lead to 
chronic, more debilitating, persistent and costly dis-
ease. 
(5) The diagnosis and treatment picture of 
Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases can be
complicated because more than one tick-borne dis-
ease can be acquired by the bite of the same tick. 
(6) If it is not diagnosed and treated early, 
Lyme disease can lead to chronic illness and can af-
fect every system in the body, including the central 
nervous system. Diagnosis is complicated because 
Lyme disease can mimic diseases such as meningitis, 
multiple sclerosis, brain tumor, Alzheimer’s disease, 
Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and psychiatric illness. 
(7) According to a study by the National Insti-
tutes of Health, patients with persistent Lyme dis-
ease suffer physical disability equivalent to that of 
congestive heart failure, severe pain equivalent to 
post-operative pain, and profound fatigue similar to 
multiple sclerosis. 
SEC. 3. GOALS. 
(a) FIVE-YEAR PLAN.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting as appropriate through the Direc-
tor of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, and the Director of the National Institutes of 
Health, shall establish a plan that, for the five fiscal years 
following the date of the enactment of this Act, provides 
for activities to be carried out during such fiscal years to-
ward achieving the goals described in paragraphs (1)
through (4) of subsection (b). The plan shall, as appro-
priate to such goals, provide for the coordination of pro-
grams and activities regarding Lyme disease and other 
tick-borne diseases that are conducted or supported by the 
Federal Government. 
(b) GOALS.—
(1) FIRST GOAL: DIAGNOSTIC TEST.—The first 
goal under subsection (a) shall be—
(A) to develop a sensitive and definitive 
test for the diagnosis of Lyme disease capable 
of distinguishing active infection from past in-
fection; 
(B) to improve efficient utilization of diag-
nostic testing currently available to account for 
the multiple clinical manifestations of both 
acute and chronic Lyme disease; and 
(C) to provide for the rapid evaluation and 
adoption of emerging test methods. 
(2) SECOND
GOAL: SURVEILLANCE
AND
RE-
PORTING
OF
LYME
DISEASE
AND
OTHER
TICK-
BORNE
DISEASES.—The second goal under sub-
section (a) shall be—
(A) to accurately determine the prevalence 
of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases 
in the United States;
(B) to evaluate the feasibility of developing 
a reporting system for collecting data on physi-
cian-diagnosed cases that do not meet the sur-
veillance criteria of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention in order to more accu-
rately gauge disease outbreaks and incidence; 
and 
(C) to evaluate the feasibility of creating a 
national uniform reporting system to include 
mandatory reporting by laboratories in each 
State. 
(3) THIRD GOAL: PREVENTION OF LYME DIS-
EASE AND OTHER TICK-BORNE DISEASES AND COM-
PLICATIONS
DUE
TO
DELAYED
DIAGNOSIS
AND 
TREATMENT.—The third goal under subsection (a) 
shall be—
(A) for the Director of the Agency for 
Healthcare Research and Quality, in coordina-
tion with the Director of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention and the Director 
of the National Institutes of Health, to provide 
and promote access to a comprehensive, up-to-
date clearinghouse of peer-reviewed information 
on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases;
(B) to provide for public education by ex-
panding the Community Based Education Pro-
grams of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention to include expansion of information 
access points available to the public; 
(C) to create a physician education pro-
gram that includes the full spectrum of sci-
entific research on Lyme and other tick-borne 
diseases; and 
(D) for the Secretary to sponsor scientific 
conferences on Lyme and other tick-borne dis-
eases, including reporting and consideration of 
the full spectrum of clinically-based knowledge, 
with the first of such conferences held within 
24 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act and with further conferences held as 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(4) FOURTH
GOAL: CLINICAL
OUTCOMES
RE-
SEARCH.—The fourth goal under subsection (a) 
shall be—
(A) to establish epidemiological research 
goals to determine the long term course of ill-
ness for Lyme disease; and
(B) to establish treatment outcomes re-
search goals to determine the effectiveness of 
different treatment modalities. 
SEC. 4. STUDY BY INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall re-
quest the Institute of Medicine, National Academies of 
Sciences, to enter into an agreement with the Secretary 
for the conduct of a study of chronic Lyme disease. Such 
study shall include a systematic assessment of empirical 
evidence of treating physicians, as well as published peer-
reviewed data, and shall include recommendations for ad-
dressing research gaps in diagnosis and treatment of 
chronic Lyme disease and an assessment of treatment 
guidelines, such as those of the Infectious Diseases Society 
of America and those of the International Lyme and Asso-
ciated Diseases Society, and their utilization. 
(b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall ensure that, not 
later than one year after the Secretary enters into the 
agreement under subsection (a), a report providing the re-
sults of the study under such subsection is submitted to 
the Secretary and the Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Com-
mittee under section 6.