MA Crowd-Funded Tick Testing & Rare TBD Incidence

Microorganisms (Siegel, E.L., et al.) 5.27.23, published “Human-Biting Ixodes scapularis Submissions to a Crowd-Funded Tick Testing Program Correlate with the Incidence of Rare Tick-Borne Disease: A Seven-Year Retrospective Study of Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis in Massachusetts.” The study sought to expand upon prior passive Ixodes scapularis tick testing surveillance measures by including two rare tick-borne diseases, babesiosis and anaplasmosis.  

The researchers retrospectively analyzed human cases reported to the Massachusetts Department of Health and tick submissions to TickReport testing services between 2015 and 2021. Results of the recent study showed how findings obtained from pathogen testing of human-biting ticks collected by passive surveillance correlate with human babesiosis and anaplasmosis incidence. Authors of the study assert that future research is needed to understand the correlation between active and passive tick surveillance risk measures and to identify how to improve data collection from passive tick testing to better inform public health efforts in Massachusetts.

For more information:

Read the study in Microorganisms.

Read more about babesiosis surveillance on LDA’s website.