103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2044

 

Introduced 2/9/2023, by Sen. Sally J. Turner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act

    Creates the Tickborne Disease Prevention and Protection Act. Presents legislative findings. Requires the Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the medical entomology lab of the Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Natural History Survey and a statewide association representing physicians, to develop protocols and best practices for identifying, diagnosing, and treating tickborne diseases in Illinois and a mandatory accredited continuing medical education course that describes those protocols and best practices. Provides that the Department shall require health care professionals and laboratories to report cases of tickborne disease to each other and the Department. Directs the Department to train local health departments to respond to tickborne disease-related inquiries. Requires the Department to prepare a report of all efforts undertaken by the Department under the Act.


LRB103 30685 CPF 57154 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2044LRB103 30685 CPF 57154 b

1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title.
5    (a) This Act may be cited as the Tickborne Disease
6Prevention and Protection Act.
7    (b) This Act may be referred to as the Gabby Galbo
8Tickborne Disease Prevention and Protection Law.
 
9    Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
10finds that:
11        (1) Tickborne diseases, including, but not limited to,
12    Lyme disease, Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis,
13    Ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis, afflict humans and other
14    animals and are caused by infectious agents transmitted by
15    tick bites.
16        (2) In the past decade, tickborne diseases have been
17    reported more frequently in Illinois.
18        (3) Anyone participating in an outdoor activity,
19    especially in an area with tall grasses, shrubs,
20    low-hanging branches, or leaf mold, has a higher chance of
21    contracting tick bites, but it is possible to encounter a
22    tick bite anywhere.
23        (4) Tick bites can occur throughout the year,

 

 

SB2044- 2 -LRB103 30685 CPF 57154 b

1    including during winter months.
2        (5) In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics'
3    Committee on Infectious Diseases determined that a course
4    of treatment with doxycycline is safe to prescribe to
5    young children with any infection responsive to it,
6    specifically including early tickborne diseases.
 
7    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8    "Tickborne disease" means any disease carried or caused by
9a tick.
10    "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
 
11    Section 15. Tickborne disease; protocols and best
12practices.
13    (a) The Department, in conjunction with the National
14Institutes of Health, the medical entomology lab of the
15Prairie Research Institute's Illinois Natural History Survey,
16and a statewide association representing physicians, shall
17develop mandatory protocols and best practices for
18identifying, diagnosing, and treating tickborne diseases in
19Illinois. The Department shall study the diseases carried by
20ticks in Illinois and the number of people infected by ticks in
21Illinois to provide data to the public on the incidence of
22tickborne disease and locations of exposure in Illinois, by
23county. The Department shall require local health departments,
24health care professionals, and laboratories to report to each

 

 

SB2044- 3 -LRB103 30685 CPF 57154 b

1other and the Department, within the period specified in the
2Control of Communicable Diseases Code for reporting to local
3health departments, each case of a tickborne disease in the
4local health department in whose jurisdiction the case is
5reported. The Department shall also train local health
6departments to respond to tickborne disease-related inquiries
7from the public.
8    (b) To raise awareness about and promote the prevention of
9tickborne disease, the protocols and best practices developed
10by the Department under subsection (a):
11        (1) shall be published on a designated and publicly
12    accessible webpage, shall include up-to-date information
13    about the prevention, detection, and treatment of all
14    tickborne disease, and shall illustrate the prevalence of
15    tickborne disease using historical mapping;
16        (2) shall reference peer-reviewed scientific research
17    articles;
18        (3) shall incorporate guidance and recommendations
19    from the federal Centers for Disease Control and
20    Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and
21    Quality's National Guideline Clearinghouse, and any other
22    persons or entities determined by the Department to have
23    particular expertise in tickborne disease; and
24        (4) shall be distributed to physicians, other health
25    care professionals and providers, and persons subject to
26    an increased risk of contracting tickborne disease.

 

 

SB2044- 4 -LRB103 30685 CPF 57154 b

1    (c) The Department shall prepare a report of all efforts
2undertaken by the Department under this Act. The report shall
3be posted on the Department's website and distributed to local
4health departments and to any other facilities as determined
5by the Department.
 
6    Section 20. Mandatory continuing medical education
7training; tickborne disease. The Department, in conjunction
8with the medical entomology lab of the Prairie Research
9Institute's Illinois Natural History Survey and a statewide
10association representing physicians, shall develop a mandatory
11accredited continuing medical education course that describes
12the protocols and best practices for identifying, diagnosing,
13and treating tickborne diseases in Illinois.