A BETTER WAY TO COLLECT TICKS FOR RESEARCH?
Current tick surveillance methods involve dragging white cloth through brush (which collects the ticks that happen to be in the area at that exact moment). A team of researchers from Washington State University and Texas A&M University collaborated with a Washington-based research and development company, BanfieldBio, Inc., on what may be a safer and more effective way to trap ticks.
The scientists developed and tested traps that release carbon dioxide from dry ice, which mimics human breathing. Of the 25,596 ticks they collected across Wisconsin, Texas, and Oklahoma over 100 days, 84.2% came from the dry-ice traps versus traditional dragging methods. The dry-ice traps worked on lone star ticks, blacklegged ticks, and American dog ticks at all stages of the life cycle, and they were particularly effective in areas with lower tick populations, which is important for accurate monitoring.
Better tick traps could help public health teams measure infection rates more accurately, reduce tick exposure for workers, and give communities clearer insight into their real risk as tick-borne illnesses continue to rise. The downside of the dry ice is cost and the logistics of transporting it safely in larger quantities out into the field.
