Recap: The 2024 Tickborne Disease Medical Conference

By Illinois Lyme Association

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 was a huge milestone in Illinois. The first Tickborne Disease Medical Conference took place in Champaign, and it was done through a unique partnership between the Illinois Department of Public Health, SIU School of Medicine, and Illinois Lyme Association.

There were almost 700 medical professionals who registered for the conference!

Members of the Illinois Lyme Association team were hard at work throughout the day handing out bags with Lyme disease-related factsheets in English and Spanish and other resources.

It was a great event, and we had many kind messages from providers saying how much they enjoyed it. This was an impactful first step to bringing awareness to providers and local health departments that tickborne diseases are in Illinois and very active.

We also had a great lineup of speakers, and we were so blessed to have Dr. Sue Visser from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as our keynote. The message from her was one of unity and working together to lessen the incidents of tick bites and tick-borne disease.

We left the conference energized, excited about the number of health professionals wanting to learn more about tickborne diseases, and some ideas for next year’s conference.

Such an incredible inaugural conference for all!