
Ticks
2025 is a banner year for ticks.
With the Fordam Tick Index currently at a 9/10, we should all probably be much more concerned about bites from ticks than from sharks.
But how much do you really know about these tiny monsters?
Hear from two experts on ticks and the diseases they carry, including tips for protecting yourself in the outdoors this summer.
Doors open at 7:00PM. Event is 21+ with limited capacity - reserve your spot here. Free event.
Speakers:
Ticks: What are they and why we should be wary of them.
Rafal Tokarz, PhD
Dr. Tokarz's primary interests are investigating ticks and tick-borne pathogens and understanding their impact on human disease. Dr. Tokarz performs annual tick collections to monitor the prevalence of tick-borne agents. He has developed and implemented molecular and serologic tests that improved diagnosis of patients with tick-borne diseases and has analyzed the microbiome of ticks and identified a wide range of new tick-associated agents, including over 30 new viruses.
In his talk, he will describe what ticks are, how they are different from other blood-sucking bugs, and how to prevent tick bites. He will describe the diseases they are responsible for and discuss controversies and misleading information common with tick-borne diseases.
Ticks and Lyme disease: History and current status
Durland Fish, PhD
Professor Fish is a Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Public Health, where he has been for the past 25 years. His research specialty is the ecology of tick and mosquito vectors of human disease and the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, West Nile virus, Zika virus, and malaria.
Dr. Fish will discuss the origin of Lyme disease in the U.S. and why it has become epidemic. He will explain the ecological processes involved in causing the spread of the deer tick vector of Lyme disease and its impact upon public health.