Location: Zoonotic and Emerging Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-021-032-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 15, 2026
End Date: Jul 14, 2029
Objective:
The overall objective of this project is to improve understanding of tick ecology, tick distribution, and tick-borne pathogens across Kansas, with emphasis on information-poor regions and the potential detection of invasive or expanding tick species. This work will combine field and laboratory activities to characterize questing ticks, ticks feeding on vertebrate hosts, associated host species, and the pathogens ticks may carry. The resulting data will support development of models to assess the potential introduction of ticks from outside the United States, expansion of existing tick populations, and changing risk of tick-borne pathogens relevant to livestock, wildlife, companion animals, and people.
Objective 1: Update and expand knowledge of tick distributions across Kansas.
Conduct multipronged tick sampling across the state, with particular focus on western Kansas and other regions where tick occurrence, density, and seasonal activity remain poorly characterized. Sampling will include collection of questing ticks from the environment and ticks associated with vertebrate hosts to better define tick species presence, abundance, host associations, and geographic distribution.
Objective 2: Identify invasive, emerging, or expanding tick species and characterize their ecology.
Evaluate collected ticks to determine whether invasive or range-expanding tick species are present in Kansas and identify ecological factors that may support their establishment or spread. Data will be used to improve understanding of tick habitat, host use, seasonality, and environmental conditions associated with tick persistence in different regions of the state.
Objective 3: Characterize pathogen diversity in ticks and associated hosts.
Test collected ticks, and associated host samples when available, for tick-borne pathogens of veterinary, agricultural, and public health importance. This objective will define pathogen diversity across tick species, host associations, and geographic regions, and will help identify areas where pathogen transmission may occur despite low observed tick densities.
Objective 4: Develop host-vector-pathogen network data to inform risk models.
Integrate tick distribution, host association, pathogen detection, and ecological data to develop an initial view of host-vector-pathogen networks across Kansas. These data will be used to support model development focused on tick introduction from overseas, expansion of current tick populations, and identification of regions or ecological conditions where tick-borne pathogen risk may increase.
Objective 5: Generate data to strengthen preparedness for tick-borne threats.
Use project findings to inform risk assessment, early detection priorities, and preparedness strategies for invasive ticks and tick-borne pathogens that could affect Kansas agriculture, livestock health, wildlife health, and broader U.S. agricultural biosecurity.
Approach:
This project will use field, laboratory, and analytical activities to improve knowledge of tick ecology, tick-borne pathogens, and the potential presence or expansion of invasive tick species across Kansas. Sampling will be spatially stratified to capture variation in geography, habitat, land use, and host communities, with emphasis on western Kansas and information-poor regions where tick densities may be lower but pathogen risk remains poorly defined.
Field collections will occur at six localities over two years. Three sites will be sampled in year one and three additional sites in year two. Each site will be visited during two seasonal windows, such as spring/early summer and fall, to capture differences in tick activity, host use, and pathogen detection. Sites will be selected based on environmental features, host availability, land use, and input from landowners and local partners. Ticks will be collected using a multipronged approach to capture questing ticks and ticks feeding on vertebrate hosts. Environmental sampling will include flagging, dragging, and carbon dioxide traps. Host-associated sampling will focus on small mammals and other available vertebrate hosts using approved field methods and permits. External parasites will be removed through inspection and preserved in ethanol or DNA/RNA Shield. Host specimens and associated data will be curated through the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, with metadata including locality, GPS coordinates, habitat type, date, host species, and collection method. Mammals will be identified by expert curators, and ticks will be identified using morphological and molecular methods as needed.Laboratory activities will focus on tick identification, detection of invasive or range-expanding species, and characterization of pathogens carried by ticks. A subset of ticks, and host tissues when available, will be screened for pathogens of veterinary, agricultural, and public health importance. Initial emphasis will be placed on bacterial pathogens such as Ehrlichia, Borrelia, Rickettsia, and Anaplasma, while maintaining flexibility to detect viral, protozoal, or other agents as resources allow. Molecular screening may include targeted PCR, amplicon sequencing, or metagenomic approaches. Selected specimens may be sequenced using Oxford Nanopore MinION or partner-supported sequencing. Reads will be compared with reference databases to confirm pathogen identity and relatedness.Data will be integrated to develop an initial view of tick-host-pathogen networks across Kansas. Analyses will evaluate tick distributions, host associations, seasonality, pathogen diversity, and ecological conditions associated with tick presence and pathogen detection. These data will support model development focused on two priority risks: introduction of invasive ticks from overseas through animal movement, trade, or other pathways, and expansion of existing tick populations into new regions of Kansas. Findings will support risk assessment, detection priorities, and preparedness for tick-borne threats affecting Kansas agriculture, livestock, wildlife, companion animals, and public health.