BURG HAS STUDIED TICK POPULATIONS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THIS SPRING, HE'S COLLECTING TICKS FOR HIS RESEARCH -- THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN 100 IN HIS LAB -- AND HE'S CORRELATING THE FALL AND SPRING TICK POPULATIONS WITH WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS.

BURG SAYS THERE ARE THREE SPECIES OF TICKS COMMONLY FOUND IN EASTERN KANSAS AND WESTERN MISSOURI. THE AMERICAN DOG TICK RESIDES IN BOUNDARY AREAS BETWEEN WOODS AND FIELDS. THE LONE STAR TICK PREFERS HEAVILY SHADED WOODS. AND THE BLACK-LEGGED TICK, THOUGH FOUND LESS FREQUENTLY, IS SPOTTED IN WOODED AREAS CONTAINING PLENTY OF DEAD LEAVES.

BURG SAYS TICKS LIVE IN CLUSTERS IN PARTICULAR HABITATS.
Burg: "Even though there are specific habitats, they're not uniformly distributed in those habitats, there are pockets or patches of ticks." (10 sec.)

QUESTING IS THE TERM USED FOR THE PROCESS OF LATCHING ONTO A HOST. BURG SAYS QUESTING IS A TWO-STAGE PROCESS. FIRST, TICKS SIT PASSIVELY ON VEGETATION WAITING FOR A STIMULUS FROM A HOST -- A MINUTE CHANGE IN CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS IN THE AIR, GROUND VIBRATIONS OR EVEN A SHADOW PASSING OVER THE TICK. THEN IN RESPONSE TO THIS STIMULUS, A TICK EXTENDS ITS FIRST PAIR OF LEGS IN A WAVING MOTION TO GRAB A HOST.
Burg: "So you have someone walking along, they brush against the vegetation, and the tick is there, they have their legs out and they grab. And then they are on the host and they hitch a ride and they try to find a nice comfortable place to begin feeding." (13 sec.)

FOR HIKING IN TICK HABITATS, BURG RECOMMENDS WEARING BOOTS AND LONG PANTS TUCKED INTO SOCKS. LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING WILL HELP YOU SEE THEM ON YOUR CLOTHES, BUT LONG-SLEEVED SHIRTS AREN'T NECESSARY.
Burg: "Ticks don't climb very high in vegetation; they are not up in the trees. The lower part of the body from the waist down is more likely to come into contact with questing ticks than the upper part." (11 sec.)

THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO REMOVE A TICK PROPERLY, BURG SAYS. USE TWEEZERS TO EXTRACT ALL PARTS OF THE MOUTH.
Burg: "The standard recommendation is to use a pair of tweezers, grab the tick right at the base of the mouth parts where the tick is attached to the skin, and gently pull straight away." (11 sec.)

BURG SAYS OTHER METHODS OF REMOVING TICKS, SUCH USING A BURNT MATCH, GRABBING AND PULLING THE TICK WITH YOUR FINGERS, OR SMEARING IT WITH RUBBING ALCOHOL, INSECT REPELLANT OR FINGERNAIL POLISH, CAN BE DANGEROUS.
Burg: "There's a risk that they will react fairly violently to that, and if they are carrying pathogens they could potentially pass those pathogens into the skin, into the host, earlier than they would under normal feeding." (11 sec.)

BURG SAYS TICKS SERVE AS A DISEASE CARRIER BETWEEN WILD ANIMALS AND HUMANS.
Burg: "Because of their long feeding duration and because of their long life history they do play a pretty major role in the transmission of diseases, but they are also recognized more easily and they are found more quickly before diseases are actually transmitted during feeding." (19 sec.)

BURG SAYS ANY PATHOGENS CARRIED BY A TICK AREN'T TRANSMITTED INTO A HOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER FEEDING STARTS. THAT'S BECAUSE THE GERMS DON'T RESIDE NEAR THE TICK'S MOUTH. IT TAKES AT LEAST HALF A DAY OF FEEDING FOR ANY DISEASE-CAUSING AGENTS TO ENTER THE HOST.
Burg: "So if you find the tick within 12 hours and pull it off and don't squeeze it or stick it with a match than the chances of disease transmission really drops dramatically." (11 sec.)