The Kay Hagan Tick Act, which provides money to combat tickborne diseases, has been reauthorized through 2030.

Federal funding for that program lapsed in September. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who co-sponsored the legislation, is a resident of Jamestown, which has one of the highest per capita rates of Lyme disease in the region.

“The federal government must invest in research to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and help researchers diagnose people quickly and accurately and connect them to effective treatments that can save lives and lead to better health outcomes for people who are suffering,” he said. “America’s tick problem is growing and the size of the federal investment we make in combatting ticks needs to keep pace.”

The bill is named in honor of former U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, who passed away in 2019 at the age of 66. Her death was linked to complications from the tick-borne disease Powassan virus, which she contracted three years earlier.

Powassan already has been in Rhode Island this season.

Congress first passed the Kay Hagan Tick Act in 2019 and authorized $150 million to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve research, testing and treatment of tick-borne illnesses and to coordinate tick research efforts across multiple departments. The law also authorized the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide $20 million in grants for awareness campaigns at the state and local levels.

Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is fighting to provide a total of $275 million in federal aid for research of ticks and tick-borne diseases in the 2026-27 federal budget, a significant $90 million boost over what Congress allocated this fiscal year toward these efforts.

There are about 15 disease microbes transmitted by a variety of ticks in different regions of the United States. The deer tick, found widely in the Northeast, transmits seven diseases, including the “big three”: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis.

Increasingly prevalent in New England is the lone star tick. This species can induce an allergic reaction through their bite that can cause Alpha-gal syndrome, which can cause a red meat allergy, flu-like symptoms, and other side effects.

Data collected through the University of Rhode Island’s TickEncounter program, led by Thomas Mather, aka The TickGuy, shows a 1,300% increase in Lone Star ticks since 2016. Another tick, the invasive Asian longhorned tick, also has been recorded in coastal communities.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Reed said, “but more must be done.”