1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing the President to direct the Food and 
  1.3             Drug Administration to accelerate review of a Lyme 
  1.4             disease vaccine.  
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, the United States Centers for Disease Control and 
  1.7   Prevention (CDC) reports that Lyme Disease continues to be a 
  1.8   rapidly emerging infectious disease, representing the most 
  1.9   common tick-borne and vector-borne (more than 90 percent of 
  1.10  cases) illness in the nation; and 
  1.11     WHEREAS, although early Lyme disease almost always responds 
  1.12  to appropriate antibiotic therapy, if it is untreated or 
  1.13  inadequately treated, it can progress to late Lyme disease, 
  1.14  which is characterized by distinctive and possibly permanent 
  1.15  arthritic, neurologic, and cardiac manifestations; and 
  1.16     WHEREAS, the presence in high numbers of the principal 
  1.17  vectors (deer or bear tick) of the disease mirrors the areas of 
  1.18  high reported incidence of the disease and identifies areas of 
  1.19  potential disease emergence (including northeastern and 
  1.20  north-central states); and 
  1.21     WHEREAS, the CDC reports that Lyme Disease cases have been 
  1.22  reported in 48 states and the District of Columbia and is 
  1.23  spreading, particularly in the west and midwestern states, with 
  1.24  28 states, including Minnesota, reporting an increase in the 
  1.25  incidence of the disease during 1996; and 
  2.1      WHEREAS, Minnesota continues to be ninth in reported 
  2.2   incidence of Lyme disease in 1995 and 1996; and 
  2.3      WHEREAS, over 16,000 cases were reported nationwide to the 
  2.4   CDC in 1996, representing a 41 percent increase over the number 
  2.5   of cases reported in 1995 and a 26 percent increase over those 
  2.6   reported in 1994; and 
  2.7      WHEREAS, there is a distinctive geographic pattern in which 
  2.8   cases remain concentrated in the northeastern, north-central, 
  2.9   and Pacific coastal regions; and 
  2.10     WHEREAS, nearly 100,000 cases have been reported to the CDC 
  2.11  since 1982, representing a 32-fold annual increase in the number 
  2.12  of reported cases -- a figure that does not take into account 
  2.13  the number of unreported cases due to misdiagnosis; and 
  2.14     WHEREAS, preventive efforts have had limited success in 
  2.15  preventing the spread of the tick or the disease and questions 
  2.16  remain as to the effectiveness and environmental safety of 
  2.17  acaricides (chemicals that are toxic to ticks); and 
  2.18     WHEREAS, the CDC estimates that, nationally, $60,000,000 
  2.19  may be spent annually for the treatment of early acute stages of 
  2.20  the disease; and 
  2.21     WHEREAS, the incidence of Lyme disease continues to 
  2.22  increase in some endemic areas and has emerged as a significant 
  2.23  threat to public health in the northeastern United States which, 
  2.24  along with Wisconsin, accounts for 90 percent of nationally 
  2.25  reported cases; and 
  2.26     WHEREAS, in 1996, eight states reported Lyme disease 
  2.27  incidences higher than the national rate of 6.2 per 100,000; and 
  2.28     WHEREAS, both the CDC and the American Lyme Disease 
  2.29  Foundation have noted that there is presently no human vaccine 
  2.30  available to protect against the disease; and 
  2.31     WHEREAS, two major vaccine manufacturers have submitted 
  2.32  product licensing applications to the United States Food and 
  2.33  Drug Administration, seeking pre-market approval for a Lyme 
  2.34  disease vaccine; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.35     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.36  that it urges the President to direct the Food and Drug 
  3.1   Administration to accelerate its review of the product licensing 
  3.2   applications pending before the agency and quickly approve a 
  3.3   disease-preventing Lyme disease vaccine.  Any delay on the 
  3.4   agency's part will only result in continued exposure and 
  3.5   needless risk to Americans for what is now a vaccine-preventable 
  3.6   disease.  
  3.7      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  3.8   State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  3.9   memorial and transmit them to the President and Vice-President 
  3.10  of the United States, the President and the Secretary of the 
  3.11  United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United 
  3.12  States House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Department 
  3.13  of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Food and Drug 
  3.14  Administration, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in 
  3.15  Congress.