Crowdsourced Surveillance Program Improves Public Understanding of Tickborne Diseases
A study evaluating tick identification via photos submitted to public health labs finds that IDs of the three most medically important tick species were correct more than 98 percent of the time.
Significant Reduction in Tick Bites Found via Permethrin-Treated Clothing
A two-year randomized control field trial among outdoor workers showed permethrin-treated clothing reduced the incidence of bites from blacklegged ticks, the primary vectors of Lyme disease, by as much as 65 percent.
Soil Ecology: Critical But Understudied in the Fight Against Ticks
In many tick species, more than three-quarters of their lives are spent off-host in the soil or among the leaf litter. A research team at Cornell University highlights an important opportunity for tick researchers and soil ecologists to collaborate to better understand what happens when the ticks aren't in contact with hosts.
Bad Roommates: Study Tracks Mice to Nests, Finds Ticks Aplenty
In the first field study of its kind, researchers confirmed Peromyscus mouse nests as understudied habitats for ticks, including blacklegged ticks and American dog ticks. Researchers are hoping to better understand the role of mouse-tick interactions within nests in the spread of tick-borne disease.