Beware of ticks

Melanie StatenOur Town Outdoors

Anyone who spends time outdoors needs to be aware of diseases that can be transmitted by ticks. Because ticks are so small, people might not even notice when they’ve been bitten by one.

Dr. Richard Gerhold

Dr. Richard Gerhold will give an update on tick abundance and prevalence, the spread of the Asian longhorned ticks and diseases associated with ticks.

This Zoom program on Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. EDT is free but please register to receive your Zoom link and the recording  at www.utarboretumsociety.org  Closed captioning is available. Please contact Michelle Campanis at mcampani@utk.edu with any questions or registration issues. This program is cosponsored by the UT Arboretum Society and the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning.

Dr. Gerhold, an associate professor of parasitology in the Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine at University of Tennessee, will also discuss the various pathogens that can be transmitted, their geographical and temporal variations, diagnostics tests and prevention.

His research interests include wildlife and public health associated parasite epidemiology and transmission, protozoa transmission and ecology, avian diseases, and tick-borne diseases. Following completion of his doctorate from the University of Georgia, he completed a two-year National Science Foundation-funded post-doctoral fellowship at the Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Department at the University of Tennessee researching Lyme disease and tick-borne diseases Tennessee.

To learn more about the Arboretum Society or for questions on this program, go to www.utarboretumsociety.org

Melanie Staten is a public relations consultant with her husband, Vince.

 

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