TL Schulze, L Eisen, K Russell, RA Jordan
Journal of Medical Entomology, tjad093, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad093
Abstract: Numerous studies have assessed the efficacy of environmentally based control methods to suppress populations of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say), but few of these estimated the cost of control. We estimated costs for a range of tick control methods (including habitat management, deer exclusion or population reduction, broadcast of acaricides, and use of host-targeted acaricides) implemented singly or in combination and applied to a model community comprising 320 residential properties and parklands. Using the high end for cost ranges, tick control based on a single method was estimated to have mean annual costs per household ranging from $132 for treating only forest ecotone with a broadcast synthetic acaricide to kill host-seeking ticks (or $404 for treating all residential forested habitat) to >$2,000 for deployment of bait boxes (SELECT TCS) across all residential tick habitat to treat rodents topically with acaricide to kill infesting ticks. Combining different sets of multiple methods in an integrated tick management program placed the annual cost between $508 and 3,192 annually per household, underscoring the disconnect between what people in Lyme disease endemic areas say they are willing to pay for tick control (not more than $100–150 annually) and the actual costs for tick control. Additional barriers to implementing community-based tick management programs within residential communities are discussed.
Notes: Surveillance and determination of pathogen risk provide a basis for public health messaging to warn the public in affected areas, but do little to actually mitigate the problem. As risk elevates so does the mandate for a coordinated response. Schulze et al. provide estimates of mitigation costs to residents residing within Lyme disease endemic areas in the Eastern USA. These data are useful for MVCAC agencies considering mitigation in response to increasing threats of tick-borne diseases.
[Submitted by the Vector and Vector-Borne Disease Committee]