California

JULY 2, 2007

Relative to the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2007.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AJR 30, Berg. Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2007.

This measure would respectfully memorialize the Congress and the President of the United States to enact H.R. 741 and S. 1708, the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2007, which would provide funding for additional prevention, education, treatment, and research efforts relating to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

WHEREAS, Lyme disease is a common but frequently misunderstood illness that, if not caught early and treated properly, can cause serious health problems; and

WHEREAS, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is usually transmitted by a tick bite, and early signs of infection may include rash and flu-like symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, headaches, and fatigue; and

WHEREAS, Although Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, the disease often goes undetected because it mimics other illnesses and this may be misdiagnosed; and

WHEREAS, Lyme disease, if untreated, can lead to severe heart, neurological, eye, and joint problems because the bacteria can affect many different organs and organ systems; and

WHEREAS, Although Lyme disease accounts for 90 percent of all vector-borne infections in the United States, the ticks that spread the disease also spread other diseases such as ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, and anaplasmosis; and

WHEREAS, Three new borrelial species belonging to the Lyme disease spirochetal complex have been described recently, increasing the number of these bacteria known to be from California to five and making California the locus of more distinct species than any other geographical area in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the reported cases of Lyme disease are only 10 percent of the actual cases that meet surveillance criteria; and

WHEREAS, Persistence of symptomatology in many patients without reliable testing makes treatment of patients more difficult; and

WHEREAS, The Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2007 has been introduced to the 110th Congress of the United States as H.R. 741 (Smith, R-NJ) and S. 1708 (Dodd, D-CT); and

WHEREAS, H.R. 741 and S. 1708 would advance the treatment of, and cure for, Lyme and other tick-borne diseases by expanding federal efforts concerning prevention, education, treatment, and research activities relating to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, providing authorization for the appropriation of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for each of the federal fiscal years 2008 through 2012 for these activities, requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to annually report to the Congress of the United States on these activities and make recommendations for further research and education; and

WHEREAS, H.R. 741 and S. 1708 would also establish a Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee within the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully memorializes the Congress and the President of the United States to enact the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2007, H.R. 741 and S. 1708; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.