JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMOX) - Citing a "pressing need" to increase surveillance of the tick population in the state, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and A.T. Still University in Kirksville are asking residents to mail them any of the blood-sucking bugs you find.
If you've spent any time in Missouri's woods, open fields or creek beds, you've likely found a large mite on your skin or clothes. MDC and A.T. Still say they need people to save any ticks they run into and send them for a new research study.
“We need the help of many Missourians around the state,” said MDC Ecological Health Unit Science Supervisor Matt Combes. “Participation by many ‘citizen scientists’ is vital in helping us collect enough data at a scale unattainable by MDC and University scientists alone.”
The two-year research study will help determine the presence of tick species throughout Missouri as well as the pathogens they may harbor. Missouri is home to three common species of ticks that bite humans: lone star tick, American dog tick, and deer tick.
Adult ticks are about a quarter-inch long and grow to nearly double that when engorged with blood. Learn more about ticks, here.
Here's how to package and send your ticks:
To help with the research efforts, people are asked to place each live tick in a plastic zip-top bag with a piece of damp paper towel or moist cotton ball, then fold the bag and place it inside another plastic zip-top bag with a completed sample-submission form. The sample-submission form is available for printing from the University website at www.atsu.edu/missouri-ticks-and-tick-borne-pathogen-surveillance-research.
People are then asked to place the bag and completed sample-submission form in an envelope and mail it to: A.T. Still University, ATTENTION: Deb Hudman -- Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology, 800 W. Jefferson St., Kirksville MO 63501.
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