Sec. 10. Lyme Disease Prevention, Detection, and Outreach Program.

391 words·~2 min read·/il/chapter-410/act-450/10

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(a)The Department of Public Health shall establish a Lyme Disease Prevention, Detection, and Outreach Program. The Department shall continue to study the population of ticks carrying Lyme disease and the number of people infected in Illinois to provide data to the public on the incidence of acute Lyme disease and locations of exposure in Illinois by county. The Department shall partner with the University of Illinois to publish tick identification and testing data on the Department's website and work to expand testing to areas where new human cases are identified. The Department shall require health care professionals and laboratories to report acute Lyme disease cases within the time frame required under the Control of Communicable Diseases Code to the local health department. To coordinate this program, the Department shall continue to support a vector-borne disease epidemiologist coordinator who is responsible for overseeing the program. The Department shall train local health departments to respond to inquiries from the public.

(b)In addition to its overall effort to prevent acute disease in Illinois, in order to raise awareness about and promote prevention of Lyme disease, the program shall include:

(1)a designated webpage with publicly accessible and up-to-date information about the

prevention, detection, and treatment of Lyme disease;

(2)peer-reviewed scientific research articles;

(3)government guidance and recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, National Guideline Clearinghouse under the Department of Health and Human Services, and any other persons or entities determined by the Lyme Disease Task Force to have particular expertise on Lyme disease;

(4)information for physicians, other health care professionals and providers, and other

persons subject to an increased risk of contracting Lyme disease; and

(5)educational materials on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Lyme disease

and other tick-borne illnesses for physicians and other health care professionals and providers in multiple formats.

(c)The Department shall prepare a report of all efforts under this Act, and the report shall be posted on the Department's website and distributed to the Lyme Disease Task Force and the General Assembly annually. The report to the General Assembly shall be filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate in electronic form only, in the manner that the Clerk and the Secretary shall direct.