Will Miller: March of the Bloodsuckers: One Health Surveillance for Disease-Carrying Ticks in a Region of Recent Population Expansion

Professor Will Miller of Calvin University presents his research on the March of the Bloodsuckers: One Health Surveillance for Disease-Carrying Ticks in a Region of Recent Population Expansion

Populations of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) have expanded across Michigan over the last 20 years. A significant increase in reported Lyme disease cases has occurred over the same timeframe, representing an emerging and important public health concern. Lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) have also established in the southwest corner of the state, bringing with them the potential for introducing new tickborne pathogens to the state. Evaluating the ecology of ticks, particularly in regions of recent emergence, may improve efforts surveillance efforts for emerging diseases and predict transmission risk to humans and companion animals. Dr. Miller has been studying the ecology and biogeography of ticks in west Michigan for the past 4 years. As part of his seminar, he will describe efforts to map spatial patterns of tick occurrence in west Michigan, preliminary attempts to identify ecological correlates to tick abundance, and methods adapted from wildlife biology