Tick-Borne Disease Risk in High Foot-Traffic-Built Environments

Date/Time: 17 July 2013, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Speaker: Ralph M. Garruto, Ph.D.
Speaker Affiliation: Professor, Graduate program in Biomedical Anthropology, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY
Venue: John A. Burns School of Medicine, Kaka’ako, MEB (Room 304)

For more info: Cori Watanabe (808) 692-1654
Description: Tick-borne diseases are the most prevalent vector-borne infections in the United States. We are investigating the biological, ecological, geographical and socio-behavioral factors involved in these emerging infections in high foot-traffic-built environments, such as public parks and other spaces, including university campuses in upstate New York. The primary host for Borrelia burgdorferi, the Gram-negative spirochete of Lyme disease, is Peromyscus leucopus, the white footed mouse. The bacterium is transmitted to humans from mice and other mammals (including squirrels, chipmunks, voles, coyotes, migratory birds and deer) via the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, and requires a variety of intersecting biological, ecological, socio-behavioral and geographical factors to produce disease in humans. I. scapularis can also harbor other medically important pathogens, including Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti, the agents for human anaplasmosis and babesiosis. The Binghamton University campus and surrounding community serve as a natural experimental model for this study.