Becky Smith

Communication Strategies for Tick-Borne Disease Prevention Among US Cattle Producers: Quasi-Experimental Study on Message Framing and Source Credibility Background: Haemaphysalis longicornis (Asian longhorned tick) presents a growing threat to cattle health in the United States, causing anemia, weight loss, and even death. Despite the expanding range ...

19/250 is Communication Strategies for Tick-Borne Disease Prevention Among US Cattle Producers: Quasi-Experimental Study on Message Framing and Source Credibility

I'm not terribly surprised that cattle producers are turned off by fear-based messaging

From the CuratedTumblr community on Reddit: can you lick the science? Explore this post and more from the CuratedTumblr community

www.reddit.com/r/CuratedTum...

Contrasting Perceptions, Knowledge, and Actions around Lyme Disease in an Urban Area of Emerging Lyme Disease and an Area of Endemic Lyme Disease in the Northeastern United States - PubMed Lyme disease transmission dynamics in the northeastern United States vary by context. Periurban regions, including Block Island, RI, have experienced decades of endemic transmission. In urban areas, including Staten Island, a borough in New York City, NY, Lyme disease is an emerging issue. Knowledge …

18/250 is Contrasting Perceptions, Knowledge, and Actions around Lyme Disease in an Urban Area of Emerging Lyme Disease and an Area of Endemic Lyme Disease in the Northeastern United States

Fascinating contrast - would love to do this in other emerging vs. endemic areas

Measuring the trends in tick and tick-borne pathogen studies and their impact on tick-borne disease surveillance in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia: a comparative analysis Abstract. Surveillance of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) harbored by ticks and a variety of human and non-human hosts can help track the range expansion of ve

New article from my lab!

We conducted a scoping review on tick and tick-borne pathogen studies from 4 countries (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia) and found that there were huge gaps in all of them - geographic, methods, and inclusion of zoonotic risk were all limited

Are we asking the right questions? A dive into the knowledge, attitudes, and practices literature on behavior change in tick bite prevention - BMC Public Health BMC Public Health - Tickborne diseases (TBDs) pose significant public health challenges within the United States. Public education is an important TBD intervention if it leads to attitudinal or...

17/250 is Are we asking the right questions? A dive into the knowledge, attitudes, and practices literature on behavior change in tick bite prevention

We need to do so much better. Myself included! In discussions on this

Meanwhile, when we arrived in the UK for a sabbatical, we simply showed up at the local GP and filled out paperwork to be registered there. Healthcare sorted.

Gustie

Great people! I know their WNV work

Gustavus! Go Gusties!

People keep talking about the winter, but the mosquitoes in the summer deserve a mention

Agreed, though. I did my undergrad an hour south of the cities and loved it there

‘You adapt, and you try not to resent it’: a qualitative study exploring impacts of living with ticks and barriers to adopting preventive measures in Canada - BMC Public Health Background Lyme disease (LD) is Canada’s most common tick-borne disease (TBD), with other tick-borne pathogens being detected with increasing frequency. Tick bite prevention remains the most effective...

16/250 is ‘You adapt, and you try not to resent it’: a qualitative study exploring impacts of living with ticks and barriers to adopting preventive measures in Canada

The confusion, the anxiety, the lifestyle changes - we have to do better!

Genomic characterization of a severe West Nile Virus transmission season using a single reaction amplicon sequencing approach Author summary West Nile virus (WNV) remains the most impactful arthropod-borne virus in the United States. Genomic epidemiology of WNV can inform our understanding of virus emergence and transmission...

15/250 is Genomic Characterization of a Severe West Nile Virus Transmission Season using a Single Reaction Amplicon Sequencing Approach

I have so many questions about WNV strain circulation, but they would require some wide longitudinal sequencing . . .

14/250 is How population control of pests is modulated by density dependence: The perspective of genetic biocontrol

I've wondered about this for our bounce-back after ULV. Might be interesting to explore density dependence in adults

On my father's side, some fled to this continent after Cromwell's downfall. On my mother's side, there's a note from an earlier family genealogist that just says "If you find a record that an ancestor was hung for sheep-stealing, GO NO FURTHER"

Reported. Ugh.

CREATE and CONNECT: Arboviruses at the intersection of research and community outreach

13/250 is CREATE and CONNECT: Arboviruses at the intersection of research and community outreach

Nice example of outreach, but no actual investigation of its effectiveness

Infrastructure is important. Relationships are infrastructure.

One Health is not just comparative medicine, public health, or epidemiology. It has to be transdisciplinary

One Health only works when technical, behavioral, and institutional solutions come together

And remember the basics!

Research cannot just be therapy for researchers. It must be placed in societal context

Stuart Reid: we see what we are trained to see

There is no single approach that will satisfy every stakeholder
Avoid the tragedy of the Commons, and the anticommons (so many stakeholders that nothing gets done)

We're pushing against the academic culture barrier: we need to, as institutions, value stakeholder engagement, communication, and coproduction of knowledge

Communication is not the same as dissemination!

We're expected to mix curiosity with practical response. That might mean providing research to support policy, but also interrogating assumptions underlying current policy

Continuing with Natalia Cenicchiaro

How do we make sure our science actually matters?
How do we justify our existence as researchers?

Part of the scientific social contract is open data and inclusivity - not just the data, but also the science (papers and infographic versions of the papers)

We model health as absence of disease, but is that fair? Shouldn't health be defined as ability to live fully?

Aka, how dog is your dog?

"Breeders just farm dogs. They produce what will sell. If you want change, you need to change the public"

But regulation has a role - they used public support to pass legislation

Dan O'Neill on science and the social license to operate for dogs with extreme conformation with VetCompass

The concept of dog breeds is a product of wealth - we can afford to have dogs without jobs

Systemic intervention is defined by boundaries. Who and what is included?
Antimicrobial susceptibility should be considered a common pool resource

Garrett Hardin: the problem has no technical solution, it requires an extension of morality

Veterinarian's oath is to protect animal health and promote public health, but what if they are in conflict? AMR is an example - any abx use can diminish the effectiveness of any abx anywhere in the future. Bacteria don't distinguish righteous use from misuse

Policy is not politics
Science can provide data, but it can only be translated into policy in the context of societal norms
We can deal with that through scientific ethics - beneficence, respect, justice