Measuring Lyme Disease Risk Along Two Urbanization Gradients

Lyme Disease Risk

Measuring Lyme Disease Risk Along Two Urbanization Gradients in New York City and Boston

Investigators: Maria Diuk-Wasser, Columbia University (Principal Investigator), Kacey Ernst, University of Arizona (Co-Principal Investigator), Mary Hayden, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (Co-Principal Investigator), Thilina Surasinghe, Bridgewater State University (Co-Principal Investigator), Pilar Fernandez, Washington State University (Co-Principal Investigator).

Funding: This project is funded by a Columbia University/Pfizer grant.

Project Description: This project investigates the expansion of Lyme disease (LD) into urban areas in New York City and Boston. The purpose of this study is to (1) Identify populations at maximum risk for exposure to LD by determining the likelihood of human-tick encounters spatially within these two highly urbanized sites, (2) Quantify how the contribution of different exposure types (residential, recreational, and travel) to LD tick vectors varies across these urbanized gradients; and (3) Assess how people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices vary across the gradients and are associated with exposure types.

Contact: For more information contact Mary Hayden at mhayden@uccs.edu