Reporting Tick Bites to Public Health Agencies Helps ID Risk Areas for Lyme Disease
A study in Quebec highlights the value of reporting tick bites and submitting tick specimens to public health agencies. Such "passive surveillance" outpaces field collection of ticks in identifying areas of emerging risk for Lyme disease.
Lone Star Ticks: Not Guilty in Spread of Lyme Disease
A new review of 30 years' worth of research concludes that, while lone star ticks are guilty of transmitting bacteria that cause several human illnesses, Lyme disease is not one of them.
An Up-Close Look at the Tiny Sensory Pits That Ticks Use to Smell
A new study in the Journal of Medical Entomology offers the best look yet at the Haller's organ, a small sensory pit on the forelegs of ticks that they use to detect heat and chemical odors emitted by potential hosts.
Why the Variety of Tick Hosts in Your Back Yard Might Be a Good Thing
A new study in Connecticut finds that residential habitats harbor a greater diversity of animal hosts for blacklegged ticks, many of which don't transmit the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi to ticks as well as white-footed mice do, thereby leading to lower levels of the pathogen's presence in residential areas compared to woodland habitats.