Tick IPM #1: Strategies and Barriers to the Prevention of Tick-Borne Disease
Recorded June 10, 2020
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Description
Blacklegged tick. Photo by Lisa Ames, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org.
Dr. Kirby C. Stafford III, Chief Scientist (Head) of the Department of Entomology and State Entomologist (State Plant Regulatory Official) at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
While Lyme disease is probably the most notorious health threat associated with ticks, it’s just the beginning of the story.
Incidence of Lyme and other tick-transmitted disease is increasing, while new diseases are being discovered and certain tick species are expanding their geographic range. All of this amounts to heightened risk to the public.
Because it’s easy to unknowingly pick up ticks while outdoors, that risk increases with the onset of warmer weather that draws people out of the house—especially in the COVID-19 era, as many are seeking relief from “quarantine fatigue.”
Dr. Stafford will briefly discuss ticks, tick-borne disease incidence, and basic tick biology. He will also review environmental methods for tick-bite prevention and tick control, along with some barriers to effective tick management and tick-bite prevention in the United States.
Dr. Kirby Stafford, III
Chief Scientist (Head) of the Department of Entomology and State Entomologist (State Plant Regulatory Official) at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Dr. Kirby C. Stafford III joined the Experiment Station in 1987. His research area is the ecology, distribution, and control of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, and more recently, the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, with a major focus on natural, biological, and integrated tick control. Dr. Stafford has authored or co-authored 92 [count 1/28/20] articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, review chapters on tick management in two books, and produced a Tick Management Handbook (CAES Bulletin 1010) and Fly Management Handbook (CAES Bulletin 1013), presented research at national and international meetings, serves on multiple regional and national tick-related committees, and given over 1,300 media interviews and public talks.