New Research: Better Tick-Borne Illness Vaccines

Just in time for tick season, new research is shining a light on how animals develop resistance to tick bites, which points toward the possibility of developing more effective vaccines against the tiny, disease-carrying bloodsuckers.

Adult deer tick - most cases of Lyme disease are caused by nymphs

Lyme disease, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever - these are just some of the serious tick-borne diseases that affect tens of thousands of people every year. There’s currently one vaccine for preventing tick-borne illness, but it only protects against encephalitis. Thankfully, a study on animal resistance may help pave the way for broader and more effective options.

In the research, scientists from Washington State University sought the answer to the question: How do host animals react to tick bites? They found that not only did the deer mice, rabbits, and cattle they studied develop resistance to bites - "acquired tick resistance" - but as a result, the tick population “dramatically shrank.” Additional simulations found that population growth could be reduced by as much as two thirds.

This is a crucial discovery because, as study co-author Jeb Owen explained, fewer ticks mean fewer cases of tick-borne disease. “A lot of attention goes into trying to figure out what makes tick populations increase or decrease - what makes them more abundant here and less abundant there?” he said. “If we understand those phenomena, we can try to find ways to take advantage of that to limit tick-associated problems.”

The findings suggest that the natural immune response might be replicated through the development of a vaccine. Such an effort would require more research, but the paper’s findings shed new light on what drives tick populations - adding to a body of research that has so far focused more on the effects of weather and other “abiotic” factors in the environment.

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