“These days, ticks are extremely active in most of the Czech Republic, despite the alternating temperatures,” reported CT in Událosty on Saturday, and the Ministry of Health called for vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis.
In the eternal battle with the dreaded aliens, however, scientists from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver bring hope.
They will drive over
They discovered that ticks are afraid of ants, more precisely their pheromones. And they are trying to create a new super repellent from those! “We chose to study ants because they are social insects and use a huge range of pheromones to communicate with each other,” explained lead author Claire Gooding.
Indeed, ticks have been shown to avoid surfaces previously occupied by ants, even for quite some time after the scientists removed the ants. “For creatures that perceive the world chemically, it’s easy to predict where they will be based on pheromones, and that’s exactly how ticks orient themselves,” added.
Disease carriers
Ticks like places and times of year when people like to be outside. In the spring and summer, there is a high chance that a tick will attach itself to someone and become infected with Lyme disease or tick-borne encephalitis.
According to a recent study by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, a total of 44% of a total of three thousand tick samples collected throughout the country were infected, most often with Lyme disease (26%). Due to global warming, they also have better conditions for spreading and reproduction.
How many hours do you have to remove a tick without contracting Lyme disease? Videohub
Prevention is key in tick protection. It is recommended to wear light-colored clothes with long sleeves and pants, use repellants and walk on well-trodden paths.
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