State Representative Ed Butler proposing a house bill that would put Alpha-Gal Syndrome on the list of diseases and conditions that healthcare providers are required to report to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Alpha-Gal Syndrome is a potentially life-threatening disease that can develop after one is bitten by a Longhorn Tick. Longhorn Ticks are common to the Upper Cumberland. Butler said adding the disease to the list of must-report diseases could help people become more aware of the disease.
“We can learn more about where the areas are concentrated and potentially make more folks aware in those areas that hey there is a large number of cases in let’s say Morgan County and we need to encourage people to be more careful and make sure they are spraying repellent on those types of things to hopefully avoid a tick bite.”
Butler said he began putting the bill together this past summer after a constituent who has the disease approached him. Butler said as he put the bill together he found out more people in his district had the disease.
“Unfortunately in my district with a lot of it being rural, I have had quite a few individuals reach out from the district and of course outside of the district expressing their appreciation for bringing this to light and making it a reportable disease,” Butler said.
Butler said the bill will be considered by the House of Representatives Monday. Butler said he believes fellow legislators are backing him up.
“One of our health committee chairs is an anesthesiologist,” Butler said. “So they have seen instances where they need to be aware if someone has Alpha-Gal because some of the medicines and some of those other types of products that they use in surgeries and so forth they don’t want to use a product that has some type of mammal component in it and cause a problem during surgery.”
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