A new environmental monitoring project at Indiana University has found increased numbers of the ticks that carry Lyme disease in Southern Indiana.
The organisms, deer ticks, are not yet confirmed to carry Lyme disease. However, IU researchers said the presence of a known disease vector -- like a deer tick -- is commonly followed by a rise in the illness caused by the bacteria it carries.
The detection arises from a newly launched project from the IU Environmental Resilience Institute and the Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge to understand and guard against disease-carrying organisms in the state. Project Vector Shield will regularly collect ticks and mosquitoes on the state's southern, eastern and western borders and analyze them to see if they carry diseases that are dangerous to people.
