Some of my students go out for hikes and collect ticks along the trails. We've looked for Colorado Tick Fever Virus by RT-PCR. It would be easy enough to go back through the samples for rickettsia. Montana isn't known for Lyme disease, so it would probably be a waste of resources to check for that. Good luck with your research. Have you written about it in your blog?
If only this were a common view of those who represent us today
Agreed. I see that you study tick-borne diseases. Which one(s)? I have some undergraduates looking into Colorado Tick Fever Virus.
Rocky mountain spotted fever and lyme disease are the ones I've personally worked on.
Some of my students go out for hikes and collect ticks along the trails. We've looked for Colorado Tick Fever Virus by RT-PCR. It would be easy enough to go back through the samples for rickettsia. Montana isn't known for Lyme disease, so it would probably be a waste of resources to check for that. Good luck with your research. Have you written about it in your blog?