CDPHE asks citizens to mail ticks for study

New citizen science program hopes to understand risks of tick-borne diseases in Colorado

PRESS RELEASE
July 12, 2024

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has launched a new program to help determine what types of ticks exist in the different regions of the state. Cataloging the creepy crawlers will help state entomologists better understand the risks of diseases that ticks can carry.

Dr. Chris Roundy, medical entomologist with the CDPHE’s communicable disease branch, heads up the tick collection program. Roundy met with Garfield County Public Health to answer questions about the program.

Does the state really want ticks in the mail?

“Yes! If you find a tick, either alive or dead, double bag it in zip-top bags. Then go to the state’s tick collection website to fill out an online form that indicates where and how the tick was collected. The site assigns your specimen a unique ID and provides the address to mail the tick to Denver. Ticks will be identified according to their genus and species. That data is then logged into a tick database.”

Are you tracking the movement of certain species?

“State entomologists are always trying to keep track of local ticks, including where they are found and how many. We also watch closely for ticks that are not normally found in Colorado. Two types that we monitor closely are Ixodes ticks (also known as black-legged ticks or deer ticks), which can transmit Lyme disease, and Amblyomma americanum (the lone star tick), which can cause alpha-gal syndrome. Sometimes people who travel will unknowingly bring back one of these invasive tick hitchhikers on themselves, their clothes, or their pets. We want to prevent these ticks from establishing themselves in Colorado and understand where they came from, which is why travel history is a question on the submission form. If one of these ticks is submitted with no travel history, we will conduct a field investigation to see if we find any others in the environment from where it was submitted.”

What tick-borne diseases should Coloradoans be concerned with?

“Right now, CDPHE is not able to test ticks for the pathogens that they might carry, but we are working on finding a way to conduct that testing in the future. Ticks in Colorado can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, and tick-borne relapsing fever. Some ticks are also able to carry tularemia, but tularemia is usually caused by exposure to an infected animal rather than by a tick bite. These diseases are rare in Colorado, even when someone has been bitten by a tick.”

What is citizen science and how is it helping to conduct valuable research?

“Citizen science is when the public voluntarily helps conduct scientific research. In this case, everyday people are helping to collect data that then can be analyzed to help solve problems. Tick surveillance in the field is a time-consuming process, which makes it difficult to conduct surveillance state-wide. Using citizen science allows us to greatly expand tick surveillance throughout the state, especially on ticks that people commonly encounter in the environment. We also really enjoy the increased community involvement. I have always been passionate about public health entomology, so it is exciting for me to be able to directly engage people in the process. Sometimes ticks are even submitted with little personal notes, which always makes my day.”

For more tick-borne, health-related information and to submit your tick to be part of the statewide program visit the CDPHE tick-borne disease website.