Tick INsiders

Dr. Maria Murgia, Lead Scientist (Microbiome), gave a talk on “Next Generation Sequencing for surveillance of tick-borne diseases: exploring the bacterial micro biome of Indiana ticks” at Indiana Vector Control Association’s 2018 Conference in Syracuse, Indiana.

She introduced the Tick INsiders project and presented the results of the microbiome study done on ticks collected during 2017-2018.

Here is a photo of Dr. Murgia at the conference, Syracuse, Indiana.

Dr. Maria Murgia at IVCA 43rd Conference, 2019

Tick INsiders team would like to welcome Indiana high school students to participate in a spring/summer tick collection program and help us understand the dynamics of tick population and disease distribution in Indiana. Click here for more information.

Tick INsiders team was at Tippecanoe River State Park on Monday November 12, 2018 to collect ticks from deer as part of the DNR deer reduction effort. Adult males and fully/partially engorged I. scapularis (deer tick) females were recovered.
Here is a photo of the team at the event:
Tick Collection Team

Tick INsiders posts number of ticks collected from state parks and private properties to tick collection map. Four new sites have been added to the map, with a total of 11 sites where ticks were sampled.  The map is useful to identify adult tick activity spatially and temporally. For instance, deer tick adults were detected in early spring and late fall at multiple sites. Visit tick collection map for more information. 

Thank you to High School/4H students for their participation in Tick INsider Day on Campus.  Here are some photographs captured by Purdue Agriculture Communications:

Vector biology Lab tour

Purdue Bug Barn tour

The project and Day on Campus were recently featured in Purdue Today (Purdue University’s online Newsroom) and in a video developed by Agriculture Communication, Purdue University:
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q4/scientists,-high-school-students-find-new-pathogens-hiding-in-indiana-ticks.html 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s_jbde1BnI
 

Tick INsiders team had an exciting day at the Indiana State Fair on August 18, 2018. We were happy to meet with Indiana residents to hear about their experiences with ticks. We also discussed safe tick removal and prevention practices.
Tick INsiders team at the Indiana State Fair
 

Day on campus for 4H/High School students is scheduled for October 19, 2018 from 10am to 3 pm.  

Come see us at the Indiana State Fair on August 18th, 2018. We will be inside the Purdue Extension Agriculture Horticulture Building, with the Department of Entomology.