MILTON, N.Y. -- U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling on President Donald Trump to implement a law she says would help the fight against Lyme disease.
Gillibrand stopped in Ulster County Monday to call on Trump to implement her Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education and Research Act, which passed in December. The law is designed to ensure federal coordination on research for prevention, diagnosis and treatments.
But Gillibrand said Trump's proposed budget would cut funding to the National Institute of Health by 22 percent, which she said could decrease Lyme disease research.
"The Department of Health and Human Services must begin coordinating all federal activities related to Lyme disease, so that we are tackling this problem in the most efficient and effective way possible," Gillibrand said. "So far, we have not seen any changes from the administration in how they are working to solve this problem, even though they are required by law to do so."
In 2015, New York reported about 3,252 cases of Lyme disease to the CDC. But the CDC estimates the actual number of diagnosed cases is as many as 10 times the amount that states actually report.