Erika Machtinger
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machtingerlab.bsky.social
Erika Machtinger
@machtingerlab.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof. @ Penn_state (but views are my own) || Vet Entomology || Parasites of #wildlife, #horses, #livestock || Disease Ecology || One Health
Key takeaways from our discussion:
✅ Early detection saves lives
✅ Simple prevention strategies work
✅ Climate change is expanding tick habitats
Learn more about protecting yourself and your family
July 24, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Read the paper 👉 doi.org/10.1111/jzo....

This work was from the graduate studies of Dr. Jessica Brown (now at the CT Ag Experiment Station).
Permission to bite: White‐footed mice show no increased grooming response to tick infestation
White-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) are one of the most frequently studied hosts of blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis); however, interactions between white-footed mice and ticks are not easily....
doi.org
May 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
A searchable database with over 1,200 educational materials from Land Grant Extension services focused on science-based education on vectors and vector-borne diseases.

Read more about it here ⬇️
www.psu.edu/news/agricul...

And visit the website yourself and look around! ⬇️
www.vector-education.org
VECTOR Library launches to strengthen response to vector-borne disease threats | Penn State University
As the United States observes Lyme Disease Awareness Month in May, public health and extension professionals across the country have a powerful new tool at their fingertips: the VECTOR Library, a cent...
www.psu.edu
May 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Tapir!
April 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Background: Tick tubes are small cardboard tubes filled with permethrin-treated cotton or other nesting material designed to target ticks at their primary hosts—rodents, particularly white-footed mice.
March 30, 2025 at 10:14 PM
If you were to place tick tubes around your home, or in public lands that you manage, would you be more likely to stake these down or not? We are trying to answer this very simple question to develop a protocol for evaluation of these tubes at tick control, so I'd LOVE your responses!
March 30, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Missed this one, but interested in taking this workshop? Keep checking back to see where our next one will be held!

www.vectorednetwork.org/workshops
www.vectorednetwork.org
March 15, 2025 at 3:13 PM