Experts have long advised people to try several measures to avoid“Much of the literature claims that it is para-domestic – it’s around people’s homes,” Ostfeld says. His team tested that idea between 2017 and 2020 in 24 residential neighborhoods in Dutchess County, NY, “smack dab in the epicenter of the Northeastern Lyme epidemic.”
Once inside the box, the animals get a dab of the insecticide fipronil, the active ingredient in products like Frontline, a flea and tick treatment for pets. The researchers chose the products because they are relatively harmless and available. The study found that the fungal spray didn’t have any effect on the number of either attached ticks or ticks actively seeking a host. But the tick boxes resulted in roughly a 50% decrease in ticks found on rodents.
After all these years, Ahern says she found comfort in understanding that mitigation measures may not be enough, and that there are other avenues for research to protect against the disease.