Tick bites in cities and the agglo are on the rise

The data for the first tick bite map of Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein provides 6338 tick bites transmitted by users via prevention app in the last two years. To date, the "Tick" app developed by ZHAW researchers has been downloaded over 45,000 times. This shows that the interaction between science and society is succeeding very well. This is the so-called scientific discipline of "Citizen Science," in which citizens are invited to collect data.

No region free of tick bite reports
The evaluation of the app data by ZHAW researchers shows: The majority of the sting reports come from the urbanized midlands. "It is important to realize that you don't have to be in the forest or in a meadow to be bitten by a tick," says ZHAW researcher Werner Tischhauser. 23 percent of all tick reports come from settlement areas, 44 percent from municipalities with official TBE vaccination recommendations from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). No region of Switzerland is free of tick bite reports. Ticks do not adhere to the official geographical upper limit of 1500 meters above sea level - as temperatures rise, they also migrate upwards. Thus, 34 reports of tick bites above 1500 meters above sea level were recorded via app.

Evaluation of the "Citizen Science" data
What is special is that the tick bite map shows where someone was bitten. However, according to ZHAW researcher Werner Tischhauser, the evaluation and interpretation must take into account that the exact recording of the tick bite cannot be verified by app users. This is because many affected persons are unable to determine the exact time and place of the event due to the anesthetic agent that ticks release into the bite site. In many cases, the affected persons only discover the tick in the evening, for example when taking a shower. Despite these circumstances, the data collected provide valuable insights for tick prevention.

Effective protection and new functions of the "Tick" app
Simple measures such as long clothing and closed shoes as well as applied tick repellent are effective protection. Children should be consistently checked for ticks from head to toe by adults in the evening. A preventive look at the online tick bite map supports the planning of excursions.
In order to be able to track observations of the recorded tick bite, the app version 2.0 has been functionally expanded. App users can now record observations of the tick bite in the tick diary. All additional information is provided voluntarily by "Citizen Science" participants, anonymously and without any personal claim to analysis data.