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House expands tick testing for military Keating amendment would allow Defense Department to partner with universities

The Chronicle - 7/19/2017

U.S. Rep. William Keating's office announced last week that the U.S. House of Representatives had approved an amendment to expand tick-testing services for members of the military.

Keating's amendment was included in the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House Friday, according to a statement from Keating spokeswoman Lauren Amendolara McDermott.

Although members of the military are entitled to free tick testing through a program that has been around for nearly 30 years, the Army Public Health Center tests only for six tick-borne diseases, McDermott said in the statement.

Keating's amendment would give the U.S. Department of Defense the authority to partner with medical researchers and universities to test for all tick-borne diseases, McDermott wrote. She said the Defense Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified 16 tick-borne diseases, some of which may be fatal.

"Our service members are especially vulnerable, as they are frequently exposed to heavily tick-infested areas," Keating is quoted as saying in the statement.

McDermott said the amendment did not include additional funding for the tick-testing program.

The "DOD already has the money in their Defense Health Program," McDermott said in an email. "This amendment is just directing them how to use it."

Dr. Stephen Rich, of the UMass Amherst, who runs a tick-testing program called the TickReport, said he would be interested in providing tick testing for the Department of Defense.

But he said federal money for the military tick-testing program has been dwindling.

The Army program has been "sadly underfunded in the past," Rich said. "It's been getting less and less money each year."

As the Defense Department expands the program, the amendment directs it to partner with universities that are already doing this type of testing, instead of having to build its own program from the ground up.