Federal department announces millions of dollars in tick initiatives

Just before last weekend, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a series of initiatives to combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne conditions, including alpha-gal syndrome.

The Island is no stranger to issues caused by ticks; there is a higher incidence of illness in Dukes County than in the rest of the state, and in recent months, there’s been a concerted focus by both local and state officials on the small arachnids. Now the severity of the problem has reached the national stage, and the federal department reaffirmed a goal to reduce Lyme disease cases by 25 percent by 2035; a press release from the department said 476,000 people in the U.S. receive a Lyme disease diagnosis each year, and emergency room visits for tick bites recently have reached a decade-level high across the country.

At a press conference in New Hampshire on Friday, Kennedy announced that HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plan to pilot a multimillion-dollar program on tick control to develop and deploy strategies to target ticks that feed on wildlife before they can spread diseases, an HHS press release stated. The department also secured funds for researchers at the National Institutes of Health on alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to mammalian products like red meat and dairy, triggered by a lone star tick bite.

The release said that the program starts through researchers at the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases in Amherst, and includes collaboration from the Indian Health Service and the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. 

Kevin Devine, chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), said in a message to The Times that they “will be collaborating with HHS, and will share details after we schedule follow-up meetings.”

Devine said that the tribe is excited to work with HHS on important tick research, and added that its health department and natural resources department have extensive experience. The hope is to collaborate with other agencies, departments, and universities that also conduct research and studies on ticks, he said.

“This collaboration will help us enhance our understanding of the research and data, enabling us to make well-informed recommendations and practical solutions to this challenge,” Devine said.

In an Island-wide aerial deer survey, which was commissioned by the nonprofit Tick Free MV to understand the extent of the herd that ticks latch onto, drone surveyors found that between Feb. 17 and March 19, there were 533 deer in Aquinnah, and for a 5.3-square-mile area, that means there are 101 deer per square mile. The state’s target is 12 to 18 deer per square mile. Other towns on the Island saw between 19 and 85 deer per square mile.

Plans for deer management and tick reduction are also underway at the local level, and after its aerial survey, Tick Free MV is actively seeking input from Vineyarders about next steps.

“The Island has been calling for action, and we are now seeing mobilization at the community, state, and federal level,” Virginia Barbatti, executive director of Tick Free MV, said in a statement to The Times. “Having some of the highest levels of government and some of the best researchers in the country working toward possible breakthroughs in tick control is a very positive development.”

She added, “While it’s still unclear exactly what these federal initiatives will mean on the ground for Martha’s Vineyard, we are eager to better understand what resources, partnerships, and opportunities may become available. The status quo is unacceptable. Too many people are getting sick, and we need to keep moving toward meaningful solutions.”

The federal department also plans to dedicate up to $2.5 million to “innovation challenges,” the release stated, as well as funds for NIH research on alpha-gal, and a public-private collaboration to connect patients to experienced providers.

The CDC estimates that nearly 500,000 people in the U.S. suffer from alpha-gal, “though emerging evidence suggests the true number may be significantly higher,” the HHS release said. The Island’s number is just as unclear, but local data show a spike in cases. In 2020, the hospital’s emergency department performed nine tests for alpha-gal, which resulted in two positive cases. In 2025, tests increased to 1,632, and there were 724 positive results.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recently announced in March that alpha-gal is a reportable condition to the state as of April 1, which local officials said allows more information about the allergy, such as about the severity of symptoms, to be systematically collected.

Claire Seguin, president and COO for Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and Jacob Lemieux, an infectious diseases physician at Mass General Brigham, recently wrote an essay for The Times that said the hospital’s allergist has already seen more than 400 patients with alpha-gal this year.

The HHS release said, “NIH has preliminarily identified promising products that may help protect individuals from developing alpha-gal syndrome following a tick bite.”

“Millions of Americans battling Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have spent years searching for answers, treatment, and support,” Kennedy said in the release. “Today, the Trump administration is launching one of the most ambitious federal efforts ever to combat Lyme disease, by accelerating research, expanding innovation, and improving care for patients and families. We are going after this disease at its source, driving faster diagnostics and new prevention strategies, and delivering the urgency and action Americans deserve.”