Have you seen a tick? Help researchers know what ticks are in Louisiana by reporting it

Kristen Healy wants to know all about your ticks — for science.

Healy is an entomologist who is an associate professor in Louisiana State University's School of Agriculture, specializing in medical and public health entomology. That means, she said, if it's a bug that can bite or sting and cause medical problems for you, she's interested in it.

In the past, most of her work has involved mosquitoes since those are such a nuisance in Louisiana and can transmit serious diseases. She's recently been working with the Louisiana Department of Health and Tulane University on the prevalence of tickborne diseases in the state.

But there was a problem.

The state hasn't conducted a proper survey of the ticks in decades, back before the introduction of fire ants into the state that contributed to a reduction of the ticks, she said. She estimated that would have to have been sometime in the 1940s or 50s.

Any research in the following years has been focused on a specific species, she said.

In the United States, most vector-borne diseases, which are diseases caused by the bites of mosquitoes, ticks or fleas, come from ticks, said Healy. Some people have developed allergies to red meat after tick bites, which Healy said occasionally has been reported in Louisiana.

So Healy is turning to the public for help, while also planning to fan out across the state for some fieldwork.

She's asking the public to submit information to her website, geaux-ticks.org. You either can fill in the information and photos of ticks you find, or you can mail samples. The website tells you how to do both, and it provides information on how to remove ticks and more.

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The key to the research she's doing — and for the information submitted by the public — is to know which ticks are being found and where. She said some of reports already have been received through the website, and they're "pretty consistent" with what she expected.

A lot of the ticks submitted are lone star ticks, a brown insect with a yellow spot on its back.

In addition, Healy plans to conduct "tick drags" around the state. She knows she won't be able to canvas everywhere, but hopes to get samples from all 64 parishes.

To do a tick drag, researchers take different types of white fabric and walk for a timed period in an area where ticks likely are to be found to see how many can be collected. Ticks go "questing," said Healy, which means they stand with their legs in the air so they can grab onto whatever walks by.

While any ticks found during the drags will contribute to the database, Healy said she's particularly interested to know if the Asian longhorned tick has made it to Louisiana yet.

A Northeast native, she spent years in New Jersey during school and knew the person who discovered the invasive species back in 2017 in that state. The species is prolific and has spread as far south as Arkansas in just the seven years it's been documented in the United States.

She said the Asian longhorn can infest animals by the thousands and has been found in 19 states. Since ticks already are more likely to be found in northern Louisiana, it's an area of concern, she said.

"It’s making an expansion across the country," said Healy.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Public asked to help researchers find what ticks are in Louisiana