Posted on by river@illinois.edu

Tick surveillance and control lagging in US, study shows.

First-ever survey of tick-management programs shows clear public health gap. Entomological Society of America

“Ticks are responsible for the majority of our vector-borne illnesses in the U.S., and our programming does not adequately meet the need in its current form, for both surveillance and control,” says Emily M. Mader, MPH MPP, lead author on the study and program manager at the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, housed at Cornell University.  American Association for the Advancement of Science – June 17, 2020

While the prevalence of Lyme disease and other illnesses spread by ticks has steadily increased in the United States over the past 20 years, a new study of the state of American tick surveillance and control reveals an inconsistent and often under-supported patchwork of programs across the country. Such programs are critical in managing the public-health threat posed by ticks such as the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), shown here in multiple life stages suspended in a vial.

CHAMPAIGN, IL – A paper titled A Survey of Tick Surveillance and Control Practices in the United States “showed that less than half of public health and vector-control agencies engage in active tick surveillance, and only 12 percent directly conduct or otherwise support tick-control efforts. These and other findings from the survey, conducted by university researchers at the CDC’s five Vector-Borne Disease Regional Centers of Excellence, are published today in the Journal of Medical Entomology“

Read the whole story at the Entomology Today website.