NEW HAVEN — Connecticut scientists are launching a new effort to track and monitor ticks.
The Hartford Courant reports the effort by the state Agricultural Experiment Station involves trapping ticks for testing at 40 locations in all 8 counties. The federal Centers for Disease Control is providing $96,000 for the surveillance effort.
Theodore Andreadis, the New Haven-based station’s director, said the initiative will help authorities get a better andle on existing and emerging tick-borne illnesses.
He said this year’s tick season is expected to be bad because the winter wasn’t severe enough to knock down the population.
Ticks are the primary transmitter of Lyme disease, which was named for the Connecticut town of Lyme. The illness continues to be the most prevalent tick-borne disease in Connecticut, but ticks can also transmit other illnesses.
