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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The tick population is growing throughout Wisconsin, as is the population of deer ticks carrying Lyme disease. This is according to Susan Paskewtiz, professor of etymology at UW-Madison.
Paskewitz worked with the software developers and his team to launch the "Tick App". It's a smartphone app where users record their encounters with ticks. The recorded information provides data for UW-Madison researchers to track tick populations and locations.
Paskewitz said, "I think what we're seeing in Wisconsin in particular is a real spread of ticks from their original home in the northwestern part of the state, and then for quite a long time period, they moved south, central, and now all the state. "
Users of the app can take a picture of a tick that they have found and have identified. As more and more people use the application, researchers can better understand the environments in which ticks thrive.
"They find ticks in places we did not expect," Paskewitz said.
Tick-borne diseases continue to threaten public health. The Center for Disease Control said that cases of Lyme disease are on the rise.
Paskewitz said, "Lyme disease is what we would call a slow-burning epidemic in Wisconsin."
As the application gets more users, more features can be added.
"My hope for the application is that it is turning into a useful tool for preventing exposure in a population. If we could get enough people who would be willing to download and use the device, it would be a good idea to prevent it. application, we could send them a small daily message during the peak periods when nymphal ticks are out there. "
The application asks users to log their daily encounters with ticks, including where and when they found them. Paskewitz said that several hundred people already contribute on the application.
The Tick app is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple Store.
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