The committee's hearing at Parliament House on Wednesday could be the final chance for people suffering Lyme disease to plead for help.

The driving force behind the inquiry, independent Senator John Madigan, is now calling for an interim report to be written as soon as possible.

He is likely to lose his seat under the recent changes made to voting.

The Senate inquiry is being conducted under the title: "Growing evidence of an emerging tick-borne disease that causes a Lyme-like illness for many Australian patients."

Officials from the federal Department of Health, which says the bacteria causing Lyme disease has not been found in Australia, will appear at Wednesday's hearing and may face a hostile reception from Lyme sufferers who will attend.

Senator Madigan said he feared the issue could be forgotten after the election.

"We're hoping for the interim report, we're conscious of the fact that people are very apprehensive and we want there to be something, a stake in the ground, so to speak," he told Fairfax Media.

"It's critical that these people across Australia have a voice and are listened to and their problems are addressed – just telling people they need to see a psychiatrist doesn't cut the mustard."

Senator Madigan said he had an open mind on whether Lyme disease existed in Australia.

"I've got more questions than I've got answers, there needs to be more work," he said.

"I haven't made up my mind, but what I do know is these people are sick.

"If it's not Lyme disease, what the hell is it?

"What's to say we haven't got an indigenous illness in this country that has Lyme-like symptoms that manifests itself.

"I'm not saying that's the case but there is something wrong and I sympathise with these people who are suffering, I don't know how you can just dismiss it or ignore it."

ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja, deputy chairman of the inquiry, said an interim report was a reasonable proposition.

"I certainly have no objection to that … I understand there are people suffering significantly and they want to see some action," he said.

A Canberra woman whose daughter, Genavieve, was bitten by a tick in Sydney hopes other sufferers and their families will have a chance to make brief appearances at Wednesday's hearing.

Marie Huttley-Jackson, of Lyons, said the Lyme Disease Association of Australia hoped the inquiry would produce an interim report soon.

A Canberra infectious diseases expert is challenging the growing power of advocates who say Lyme disease has come to Australia.

Professor Frank Bowden from the Australian National University medical school says the bacteria has not been detected in Australia, despite being widespread in other countries.

The Australian Medical Association says debate about legitimate questions has not been helped by commentary that ignores the advice of the Department of Health's medical advisers, including the chief medical officer.

"To date there has been no evidence to support the existence of Borrelia burgdorferi [Borrelia] in Australia," the association's submission to the inquiry says.

"In the absence of a conclusive aetiology of an indigenous vector for Lyme disease or a Lyme-like disease, diagnosis remains difficult and patients are frustrated when their illness is not easily diagnosed or treated."

The AMA says Professor Peter Irwin at Murdoch University has found new bacteria in ticks collected from animals in Australia but all 460 ticks tested negative for the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

Peter Collignon, professor of microbiology at Australian National University, says he doesn't believe the cause of Lyme disease – Borrelia burgdorferi – has been found in Australia.

"My reason for this belief is that the organism has been extensively looked for by many parties and has not been to date cultured from a source collected in Australia," his submission says.

Professor Collignon believes it is very likely Australia has ticks carrying viruses or bacteria that have not been discovered.

However, his view remains there is a very low probability Borrelia is in Australia and causing Lyme disease.