The Daily Bulletin

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Tales of Ticks and Taq: Tick-Borne Pathogen Surveillance and Research in New York State," presented by Melissa Prusinski, research scientist and laboratory supervisor with the NYS Department of Health, today, February 6, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 216. At the lab and in the field, Ms. Prusinski focuses on assessing tick populations parallel to their associated pathogens. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies leading up to the seminar.

Abstract
In response to the increase and geographic spread of tick-borne disease in New York State, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) launched a Statewide Tick-Borne Pathogen Surveillance Initiative in 2008 and began actively monitoring tick populations across the state and testing them for pathogens. Ms. Prusinski will detail this coordinated and systematic statewide effort, which enables the NYSDOH to monitor tick population density, species composition and distribution, determine pathogen prevalence, and track changes in these at over 750 publicly accessible locations across New York State over time. She will discuss the NYSDOH tick surveillance results that are shared directly with local county-level health departments, medical providers, and other stakeholders and are publicly available online. The tick and pathogen samples generated by NYSDOH surveillance efforts are used to study tick and pathogen population genetics, test prospectively and retrospectively for emerging pathogens, and form the basis of laboratory experiments on pathogenesis, pathogenhost interactions, co-infection dynamics, and other related vector ecology studies. Ms. Prusinski will provide an overview of these ongoing research studies. The data and findings generated by these efforts form the basis of NYSDOH tick-borne disease educational campaigns and help refine tick-borne disease risk assessments and predictions, as well as guide the targeted implementation of tick-borne disease prevention and interventional strategies.