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Tag: lyme disease

Closeup of an adult blacklegged tick on a solid blue background. The tick is medium rusty brown in color except for a darker brown circular area at the top of its back. Its eight legs are spread out, with its mouthparts oriented upward.

In Mississippi, Blacklegged Ticks’ Seasonal Shift Deemed “Very Strange”

In decades of surveillance, adult blacklegged ticks have only been found in fall months in Mississippi. But in 2022, 13 adult blacklegged ticks were collected between June and September in locations across the state, the time of year when previously only larvae or nymphs were found. Scientists sharing the findings admit: They're quite puzzled.

Overhead view of a table with various contents of a tick-collection kit neatly laid out. Items include a bottle of bug repellent spray, tall white socks, a white cloth, two white plastic tubes, a roll of masking tape, a black Sharpie marker, small plastic vials, an empty plastic zip-lock bag, a magnifying glass, a zip-lock bag with cotton balls and blue rubber gloves inside, two large nails, white string, a "tick blitz data collection sheet," a pamphlet titled "Insect Repellent Essentials: A Brief Guide," and a card titled "Life Cycle of the Blacklegged Tick."

Tick Blitz: How Community Science is Helping New York State Monitor Ticks

With a little bit of training, 59 citizen scientists in New York collected more than 3,700 ticks across 15 counties in a two-week period in the summer of 2021, greatly expanding the reach of professional tick researchers at the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases. The "New York State Tick Blitz" is now an annual project and a model that tick-surveillance programs elsewhere can follow.

western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus)

Where Lyme Disease is Rare, Can It Still Be Diagnosed Accurately?

A study on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding Lyme disease among physicians in California—where Lyme disease is present but less common than eastern states—shows doctors could benefit from targeted education, particularly regarding testing for Lyme disease and interpreting test results.