Summary
This pilot project ran at Queen Elizabeth National Park (Uganda), in collaboration with the University of Salford’s School of Science, Engineering and Environment, and focused on assessing the impact of climate change on human health, specifically tick-borne diseases. Ticks play a major role in the transmission of diseases that impact both animals and humans. They are also classed as ‘Indicator Species’ in the assessment of the impact of climate change of human and animal health.
Working with a veterinary team headed by Ludwig Siefert and the Ugandan Wildlife Authority, the study included several stages:
Stage 1: Tick Collection
In Stage 1, a protocol was developed to guide the collection of ticks from domestic animals (cows and goats) grazing at the perimeters of the Safari Park. Ticks were also collected more opportunistically from wildlife in the safari park. As well as recording the parts of the animals that the ticks were collected from, K4C volunteer Andy Moffatt set up a system to record the geographic location of collections using Geographic Information Systems (Epicollect). This enabled us to chart the impact of climate change on the geography of tick populations.
Stage 2: Tick Identification
Different species of ticks carry different diseases. Led by Lorenza Beati Ziegler (curator of the US tick collection agency and one of the world’s leading authorities on tick diversity and biology), Stage 2 involved work to identify tick species.
Future Work?
The Team is currently exploring opportunities for future funding with a particular interest in the role that ticks play in spreading Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
For more details, please contact Professor Richard Birtles: r.j.birtles@salford.ac.uk