New Cornell-led research shows that inadequate funding is the main barrier to better surveillance and control of ticks, including the blacklegged tick, which spreads Lyme disease, the No. 1 vector-borne illness in the country.
New Cornell-led research shows that inadequate funding is the main barrier to better surveillance and control of ticks, including the blacklegged tick, which spreads Lyme disease, the No. 1 vector-borne illness in the country.
Insufficient infrastructure, limited guidance on best practices and lack of institutional capacity also are impediments to improved tick monitoring, the researchers found.
Their report, “A Survey of Tick Surveillance and Control Practices in the United States,” published June 17 in the Journal of Medical Entomology. The lead author is Emily Mader, program manager of the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (NEVBD) and a member of the lab of Laura Harrington, professor of entomology, NEVBD director and a co-author of the study.
The study identifies what methods public health agencies use to track ticks, the barriers they have and what aid they might need. The study also generated a directory of tick surveillance programs, which did not exist previously.
Read more at Cornell University
Image: Participants of the 2019 Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases Vector Biology Boot Camp learning how to conduct a tick drag to collect the blacklegged (deer) tick. CREDIT: NEVBD
