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While the peak season of ticks is imminent in the Upper Midwest, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hope that more people will download and use a free smartphone app that will track and identify the hematopoietic arachnids.
The Tick app was launched in Wisconsin in time for the 2018 season and over 600 people have uploaded it to date. The application is part of a behavioral study conducted by researchers from UW-Madison University and Columbia University in New York, who seek to better understand where and how people encounter ticks. They are particularly interested in knowing what activities people do (and where they do them) when they encounter blacklegged ticks (or deer) (Ixodes scapularis), which often carry the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease.
"A lot of the ticks you might encounter could be infected with the bacteria," Bartholomay said. "If they are feeding and they stay attached to you for at least 36 hours, they can pass it on just with their saliva, as they are stuck to you and feed on blood."
Bartholomay said that between 70 and 80% of people infected with the bacteria at the origin of Lyme disease as a result of a deer tick bite will develop a classic rash around the site of the infection. This leaves a significant number of people who might not realize that they were infected or were bitten at first. This risk is increased by the fact that deer tick nymphs are tiny: they are about the size of a small freckle and are therefore difficult to detect.
Deer ticks catch the bacteria causing Lyme disease while feeding on mice or other rodents during their larval stage, and can pass it on to humans while feeding at home. during the nymphal and adult stages.
The risk of contracting Lyme disease can also spread geographically around the state beyond what was previously understood. Wisconsin ticks, including deer ticks, are common in wooded and agricultural areas of the state, but they are also increasingly manifesting in cities and suburbs of the state.
"They are encroaching more and more on our backyards and across the state," Bartholomay said on WPR.
This incursion probably means that more people could meet them while working or relaxing in their back yard, in addition to those who walk, hunt or camp in the woods. One of the main goals of the Tick App developers is to determine exactly where people are going to look for ticks. They hope to increase the number of users in 2019 to around 2,000.
"We actually found twitches where we did not really expect them," said Susan Paskewitz, professor of entomology at UW-Madison, also involved in the application project, in an interview with WisContext. "We find them in mowed grass, people have to think to pay attention even in their garden."
This may mean wearing clothes treated with permethrin, an insecticide that works well against ticks.
The disease is more prevalent in parts of the northeastern United States, including large bands in New England. It did not appear in Wisconsin until the 1960s, but in recent decades, the state has recorded the largest number of Lyme cases outside the Northeast. In 2017, the CDC recorded at least 3,000 confirmed and probable cases of Lyme in Wisconsin, double the number of cases in 2016 and a 10-year high.
During its first year, more people have downloaded the Tick app in Wisconsin than elsewhere. Paskewitz, however, said the app needed more, more active users, so her team could better understand risky behaviors for tick exposure.
"We had a decent adoption, but we have to do it again this year because we have not received many reports of tick contacts. [last year]"Said Paskewitz.
In addition to providing resources for identifying ticks, including the ability to upload photos for expert analysis, the application prompts users to record daily entries in a "ticks log", which includes Whether or not they encountered ticks. Entries should ideally include the location of users' outdoor activities to help researchers understand where people are encountering ticks and where they are not.
A new application feature in 2019 also provides users with a tick risk forecast for their location. The forecast is based on the historical prevalence of ticks.
And the developers of Tick App are not the only ones who want to follow.
Mr. Paskewitz explained that the behavior of the long-horned tick was often different from other species: it tended to cluster in large groups that ate wild animals and livestock. Its large number is partly due to its ability to reproduce asexually – females do not need males to fertilize their eggs.
"They can spread very easily," said Paskewitz, asking anyone who encounters large numbers of ticks, or any other tick that she can not identify and suspects of being an unusual species in Wisconsin, to immobilize creatures for identification. For example, the UW Insect Diagnostics Lab in Madison will identify tick specimens sent by Wisconsin residents.
"Take a piece of masking tape and pin it down as much as you can, then slide it into the freezer," she said. "We want to know if someone who works as a veterinarian or in the livestock sector has to deal with something unusual."
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