RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium 2019

Ixodes scapularis is a tick species and a primary vector of Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease. Populations have increased dramatically in the northeast US in the past two decades (Eisen et al 2016). However, biological studies tend to collect and analyze short term datasets to make broad inferences about populations. Thus trends observed from short term studies may not be indicative of longer-term trajectories.

To address this, we used a ‘moving window’ algorithm (Bahlai 2019) on Ixodes scapularis abundance datasets of 10+ years. This analysis breaks up long term data into different length time intervals to understand how the stability of findings changes with study length. As ticks are vectors of several pathogens impacting humans, understanding their long term population dynamics can inform public health policy.