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URI entomologist predicts early tick season, high infection rate
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| A University of Rhode Island tick expert believes that several ecological factors are likely to make 2008 a big year for ticks and disease, so he advises Rhode Islanders to develop an action plan for taking appropriate precautions to reduce their chances of being bitten.
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Apple Pickers Foundation donates $100,000 to URI to support public education about Lyme disease prevention
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| A private charitable foundation based in Westerly
has made a $100,000 contribution to the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Disease in support of the Center's public health education program for preventing tick bites and Lyme disease.
The Apple Pickers Foundation, established by Michael and John Warburg of Westerly, made the contribution after meeting with URI Entomology Professor Thomas Mather, director of the Center, and learning about his numerous outreach programs aimed at reducing the risk of contracting Lyme disease.
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Clothing-Only Tick Repellent Put To Test
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| Try and picture this-
15 volunteers sitting in a room waiting for a hoard of tiny bloodsuckers to crawl onto their bodies.
The study plan called for dividing the volunteers in groups
of five - five would wear commercially treated clothing provided by Buzz Off Insect Shield, five would
have clothing treated using an at-home treatment kit (Sawyer Clothing Only repellent), and five
would wear untreated clothing. On the second day, each team would wear different clothing.
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URI entomologist to test tick repellent by making volunteers squirm, Sept. 6 & 7
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| Each volunteer to spend 2 hours with 30 ticks crawling on skin.
University of Rhode Island tick expert Thomas Mather, director of the URI Center for Vector Borne
Disease, and staff, along with 15 research volunteers (mostly URI students) will test the effectiveness
of a "clothing-only" tick repellent.
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A dramatic surge seen in the island's deer tick population, August 2, 2007
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| Deer ticks are down in number to date this year across Rhode Island, according to sampling studies taken recently through the University of Rhode Island. Counts of the noted carriers of Lyme disease, however, are significantly higher in parts of Newport County, and in particular, Jamestown.
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URI researcher : Tick abundance running below average in Rhode Island, but Lyme disease risk still high, June 21, 2007
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| Deer tick abundance in Rhode Island is running 22 percent
lower this year as compared to this same time last year, according to preliminary results from URI's
statewide Tick Encounter Risk Survey. So far, the first of two planned samples have been collected
at 40 of 61 sites distributed around the state.
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He Wants Ticks To Be Taken More Seriously
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By Andrew Rimas, Globe Correspondent Boston Globe
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| Blood-sucking insects weren't Tom Mather's earliest
love. As an undergraduate in Pennsylvania's Muhlenberg College, he started his academic life as a
history major. But the future professor of Entomology at the University of Rhode Island (and
unofficial tick guru of New England) was looking for a nobler calling. "My parents left me with
the idea that you should do something good for the world," he said. "So, it became my role to
prevent disease transmission through the bites of blood-sucking insects."
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Time To Take Action Against Ticks
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by Thomas N. Mather, Ph.D.
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| 717,614 - that's the number of Rhode Islanders currently at
risk for encountering a deer tick where they live. Officially
known as black-legged ticks, they transmit Lyme disease,
babesiosis and anaplasmosis. Lyme disease is the most common
tick-transmitted infection, and now, in 2006, 68% of the state's
population is at risk in their own backyards. Read More... |
