The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as “the Secretary”) shall continue to conduct or support epidemiological, basic, translational, and clinical research related to vector-borne diseases, including tick-borne diseases.
The Secretary shall ensure that each triennial report under section 283 of this title (as amended by section 2032) includes information on actions undertaken by the National Institutes of Health to carry out subsection (a) with respect to tick-borne diseases.
The Secretary shall establish a working group, to be known as the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (referred to in this section as the “Working Group”), comprised of representatives of appropriate Federal agencies and other non-Federal entities, to provide expertise and to review all efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services related to all tick-borne diseases, to help ensure interagency coordination and minimize overlap, and to examine research priorities.
The Working Group shall be treated as an advisory committee subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).