Research Areas

Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviors (KAB) Surveys
- 2015-18 Tickborne Disease Prevention in Endemic Areas (CT, MD) – A cross-sectional, population-based survey of participants in Lyme disease endemic areas of Connecticut and Maryland to evaluate their knowledge of tickborne diseases, risk perception, and knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding tickborne disease prevention.
  - Beck A, Bjork J, Biggerstaff BJ, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding tick-borne disease prevention in Lyme disease-endemic areas of the Upper Midwest, United Statesexternal icon. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2022 May;13(3):101925.
  - Niesobecki SA, Hansen A, Rutz HJ, Mehta S, Feldman KA, Meek JI, Niccolai L, Hook SA, Hinckley AF. Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding tick-borne disease prevention in endemic areasexternal icon. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019 Oct;10(6):101264.
  - Niesobecki SA, Rutz HJ, Niccolai L, et. al. Willingness to pay for select tick-borne disease prevention measures in endemic areasexternal icon. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2022 Jan-Feb 01;28(1):E37-E42.
- 2018 Vaccine Acceptability Survey (CT, MD, MN, NY) – A cross-sectional, population-based survey to determine the proportion of people in CT, MD, MN, and NY that would get vaccinated with a Lyme disease vaccine if one were available, and to characterize motivations for and barriers to getting a Lyme disease vaccine.
  - Hook SA, Hansen AP, Niesobecki SA, et al. Evaluating public acceptability of a potential Lyme disease vaccine using a population-based, cross-sectional survey in high incidence areas of the United Statesexternal icon. Vaccine. 2021 Dec 8. Epub ahead of print.
- 2017-18 Pet Owners Encountering Ticks (PETs) Survey (MD) – A cross-sectional survey of pet owners in three counties of high incidence for Lyme disease in Maryland to evaluate the behaviors of pet owners and determine which pet-human interaction behaviors may increase the risk of human tick encounters.
  - de Wet S, Rutz H, Hinckley AF, et al. Love the ones you’re with: Characteristics and behaviour of Maryland pets and their owners in relation to tick encountersexternal icon. Zoonoses Public Health. 2020 Dec;67(8):876-881.
4-Poster Deer Treatment Device Acceptability Survey
- Connally NP, Rowe A, Kaufman A, et al. Designing an intervention trial of human-tick encounters and tick-borne diseases in residential settings using 4-poster devices to control Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae): Challenges for site selection and device placementexternal icon. J Med Entomol. 2022 Mar 16:tjac027. Epub ahead of print.
2015-Present Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) Study (CT, MN) — CDC is partnering with the MN Department of Health, Mayo Clinic, and Yale University to obtain clinical specimens from patients with suspected tickborne illness. CDC will use AMD methods (16s metagenomics) to identify the specific tickborne bacteria that caused these patients’ illnesses. This multi-disciplinary project is building critical molecular and bioinformatics capacity to help advance tickborne disease detection and surveillance.
- Kingry LC, Anacker M, Pritt B, Bjork J, Respicio-Kingry L, Liu G, Sheldon S, Boxrud D, Strain A, Oatman S, Berry J, Sloan L, Mead P, Neitzel D, Kugeler KJ, Petersen JM. Surveillance for and discovery of Borrelia species in US patients suspected of tickborne illnessexternal icon. Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Jun 1;66(12):1864-71.
- Kingry L, Sheldon S, Oatman S, et al. Targeted metagenomics for clinical detection and discovery of bacterial tick-borne pathogensexternal icon. J Clin Microbiol. 2020 Oct 21;58(11):e00147-20.
2014-2016 Cost of Lyme Disease (COLD) study — A prospective, descriptive study among Lyme disease patients in CT, MD, MN, and NY to assess total societal and individual level costs of Lyme disease.
- Hook SA, Jeon S, Niesobecki S, et al. Economic burden of Lyme disease in high-incidence areas, United States, 2014-2016. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022. Epub ahead of print.
2012-16 Bait Box Intervention (CT) — A prospective, blinded, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of commercially available, rodent-targeted bait boxes to prevent Lyme and other tickborne diseases in humans.
- Hinckley AF, Niesobecki SA, Connally NP, et al. Prevention of Lyme and other tickborne diseases using a rodent-targeted approach: A randomized controlled trial in Connecticutexternal icon. Zoonoses Public Health. 2021 Sep;68(6):578-587.
2011-12 Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases Prevention Study (CT, MD, NY) — A prospective, blinded, placebo-controlled trial of 2700 households to evaluate the efficacy of a single springtime application of commercially available, EPA-registered acaricide (bifenthrin) to prevent Lyme and other tickborne diseases in humans.
- Jones EH, Hinckley AF, Hook SA, Meek JI, Backenson B, Kugeler KJ, Feldman KA. Pet ownership increases human risk of encountering ticks.external icon Zoonoses Public Health. 2018; 65: 74–79.
- Hinckley AF, Meek JI, Ray JAE, Niesobecki SA, Connally NP, Feldman KA, Jones EH, Backenson PB, White JL, Lukacik G, Kay AB, Miranda WP, Mead PS. Effectiveness of residential acaricides to prevent Lyme and other tickborne diseases in humans.external icon J Infect Dis. 2016 Jul 15;214(2):182-8.
- Hook SA, Nawrocki CC, Meek JI, et al. Human-tick encounters as a measure of tickborne disease risk in Lyme disease endemic areasexternal icon. Zoonoses Public Health. 2021 Aug;68(5):384-392.
- Feldman KA, Connally NP, Hojgaard A, Jones EH, White JL, Hinckley AF. Abundance and infection rates of Ixodes scapularis nymphs collected from residential properties in Lyme disease-endemic areas of Connecticut, Maryland, and New York.external icon J Vector Ecol. 2015 Jun;40(1):198-201.
Lyme Disease Surveillance: Burden and alternative approaches (MD, MN, NY) — Studies to determine the degree to which Lyme and other tickborne diseases are under reported and explore methods to enhance surveillance. The majority of these studies were described in the February 2018 Special Issueexternal icon of Zoonoses and Public Health.
- Bjork J, Brown C, Friedlander H, Schiffman E, Neitzel DF. Validation of random sampling as an estimation procedure for Lyme disease surveillance in Massachusetts and Minnesota.external icon
- Cartter ML, Lynfield R, Feldman KA, Hook SA, Hinckley AF. Lyme disease surveillance in the United States: Looking for ways to cut the Gordian knot.external icon
- Lukacik G, White J, Noonan-Toly C, DiDonato C, Backenson PB. Lyme disease surveillance using sampling estimation: Evaluation of an alternative methodology in New York state.external icon
- Rutz HJ, Wee S, Feldman KA. Characterizing Lyme disease surveillance in an endemic state.external icon
- Rutz HJ, Hogan B, Hook SA, Hinckley AF, Feldman KA. Exploring an alternative approach to Lyme disease surveillance in Maryland.external icon
- Rutz HJ, Hogan B, Hook SA, Hinckley AF, Feldman KA. Impacts of misclassification on Lyme disease surveillance.external icon
- Schiffman EK, McLaughlin C, Ray JA, Kemperman MM, Hinckley AF, Friedlander HG, Neitzel DF. Underreporting of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in residents of a high-incidence county, Minnesota, 2009.external icon
- Thomas N, Rutz HJ, Hook SA, et al. Assessing diagnostic coding practices among a sample of healthcare facilities in Lyme disease endemic areas: Maryland and New York – A Brief Reportexternal icon.
- White J, Noonan-Toly C, Lukacik G, Thomas N, Hinckley AF, Hook SA, Backenson PB. Lyme disease surveillance in New York State: an assessment of case underreporting.external icon
Laboratory Surveys (CT, MD, MN, NY) — Surveys of major commercial testing laboratories and some state public health laboratories to determine current testing methods and volume for common tickborne diseases. Researchers used survey data from large commercial laboratories in the United States to estimate the cost of testing and number of infections among patients from whom specimens were submitted.
- Hinckley AF, Connally NP, Meek JI, Johnson BJ, Kemperman MM, Feldman KA, White JL, Mead PS. Lyme Disease Testing by Large Commercial Laboratories in the United States.external icon Clin Infect Dis. 2014 Sep 1;59(5):676-81.
- Connally NP, Hinckley AF, Feldman KA, Kemperman MM, Neitzel D, Wee SB, White JL, Mead PS, Meek JI. Testing practices and volume of non-Lyme tickborne diseases in the United Statesexternal icon. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2016 Feb;7(1):193-8.

Page last reviewed: May 11, 2022

Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD)