229 - Surveillance of Ticks and Tickborne Diseases: Collaboration Between Harris County Public Health and the Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-borne Diseases

Ticks and tickborne diseases (TBD) are of increasing concern for public health, and the need for continuous surveillance of ticks and their potential pathogens has become apparent in the decades since Ixodes-vectored Lyme disease was recognized. In the United States, the past twenty years have seen a steady increase in the number of reported cases of vector-borne diseases, with TBD doubling in number during that time. Climate, land use, and environmental changes have likely led to the range expansions of different ticks that vector disease. All these factors demonstrate the importance and need for formal surveillance programs for ticks and tick-vectored pathogens. Here I will summarize the activities of the Vector Surveillance Section within the Harris County Public Health Mosquito and Vector Control Division, including our methods, findings, and future direction. Collaboration with the Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-borne Diseases, based at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, was pivotal to the establishment of non-mosquito vector surveillance in Harris County, Texas.