BITE Act

Full Title:
BITE Act

Summary#

This bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create and run a comprehensive national vector-borne disease prevention system. The system in the bill includes: a professional vector identification service with information on ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas that civilians and the Department of Defense can use and that supports One Health data integration; an artificial intelligence-enhanced early warning system that uses weather, habitat, and wildlife data and sends real-time, location-based risk alerts; insurance claims surveillance of private and public health claims to help detect outbreaks earlier; syndromic surveillance that monitors emergency room visits at civilian hospitals and military medical treatment facilities for vector-borne symptoms; comprehensive public education that delivers targeted prevention messages through schools, workplaces, media, and community groups; and national strategic alignment that supports a target of a 25 percent reduction in Lyme disease by 2035 and includes enhancing military readiness through early detection and ecosystem health.

What it means for you#

  • HHS would set up services people can use to identify ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas and learn about disease risk.
  • People could receive real-time, location-based risk alerts generated with weather and wildlife data.
  • Schools, workplaces, media, and community groups could get targeted prevention messages.
  • Emergency room visits and health insurance claims would be monitored to look for signs of outbreaks, including at military medical facilities.
  • The bill sets a national goal to reduce Lyme disease by 25% by 2035.
  • No publicly available information on exact timelines, how services will be accessed in practice, or how privacy and data use would be handled.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The text of the bill describes goals of improving detection and prevention of diseases carried by ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas, integrating human, animal, and environmental data (a One Health approach), using AI and surveillance to give earlier warnings, delivering prevention education, and aiming for a 25 percent reduction in Lyme disease by 2035 while supporting military readiness.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.