The BITE Act establishes a comprehensive national system utilizing AI, data tracking, and public education to prevent and predict vector-borne diseases like those transmitted by ticks.
Josh Gottheimer
Representative
NJ-5
The Battling Infections Transmitted by Ticks and Exposure (BITE) Act establishes a comprehensive national system to prevent vector-borne diseases like Lyme disease. This system will utilize AI-driven early warning alerts, expert identification services, and real-time monitoring of insurance claims and symptoms. A key goal of the Act is to support efforts to reduce Lyme disease cases by 25% by 2035.
BITE Act Launches National AI System to Cut Lyme Disease Cases by 25% by 2035
The new Battling Infections Transmitted by Ticks and Exposure Act, or the BITE Act, is setting up a comprehensive, nationwide system to fight diseases spread by vectors—think ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas. The goal is ambitious: cut down Lyme disease cases by 25% by 2035. This isn't just a public service announcement; it’s a full-scale federal initiative run by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The AI That Tracks the Bugs
One of the most interesting parts of the BITE Act is the creation of a high-tech prevention system. This system includes an Artificial Intelligence Early Warning System designed to predict outbreaks before they happen. How will it work? It will crunch data on weather patterns, animal habitats, and wildlife activity to figure out where the risk is spiking, then send out real-time alerts. For someone who spends time outdoors—whether you’re a construction worker, a hiker, or just gardening—this means getting timely warnings about high-risk areas straight to your phone or local newsfeed, potentially saving you a trip to the doctor later.
Beyond the AI, the BITE Act establishes a professional service for Expert Bug Identification. If you or the Department of Defense find a strange tick or mosquito, there will be a centralized place to send it for identification and data collection. This professional service will combine data from humans, animals, and the environment into one central hub, giving researchers a much clearer picture of disease activity than they have now. It’s about getting smarter and faster than the bugs.
Watching the Claims and the Clinics
To catch outbreaks even earlier, the new system will be monitoring healthcare data. Specifically, it will keep an eye on health insurance claims—both public and private—for patterns that signal a new outbreak is starting. It will also track emergency room visits for symptoms commonly linked to vector-borne illnesses. While this data monitoring is smart for public health—allowing officials to deploy resources quickly to a hot zone—it does raise a flag about privacy. The bill sets up the system, but the specifics on how this massive amount of private health data will be handled and anonymized are not detailed here, which is something to watch closely.
Prevention on the Ground
If you’ve ever felt like public health messaging is outdated or non-existent, the BITE Act aims to fix that with a comprehensive Public Education Campaign. This isn't just a poster campaign; it requires working with schools, workplaces, media, and local groups to deliver specific, actionable prevention messages. For parents, this means better, more consistent information about keeping kids safe during summer camp or sports practice. For employers with outdoor workers, it could mean better training and resources provided directly through the system. Finally, the bill specifically mandates that this system must support military readiness by monitoring local ecosystem health, ensuring troop safety wherever they are deployed.