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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, December 5). Regions where ticks live. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. from https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/geographic_distribution.html

Malysa, S. (2017, April 25). What kind of a climate do ticks survive in? Sciencing. Retrieved from https://sciencing.com/kind-climate-do-ticks-survive-8734880.html

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U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2017, April 24). Understanding and preventing Tick bites. MedlinePlus. Retrieved from https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/article/understanding-and-preventing-tick-bites

Vesiculovirus. Vesiculovirus - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/vesiculovirus

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Ticks require three essential elements in any given environment to survive: warm temperatures, high humidity and a plethora of potential hosts. In light of climate change, rising global temperatures and increased rain fall is contributing to the acceleration of a tick's life cycle, which is causing a large flux in tick population, according to the National Reference Laboratory for Tick-borne Diseases.

A tick depends on finding a host from which to draw blood in order to grow into maturity and reproduce. When a tick hatches from its egg it immediately begins its quest for a host. They use a highly complex sensory organ, called the Haller's organ, found on the first two front feet to survey their environment for a host. With the help of this organ ticks are capable of detecting a host's presence by sensing their shadow, vibrations, heat and body odor. Once a host is found a tick attaches itself, draws blood and molts two times. The tick will feed between two to 10 days on any given host and grow five to 10 times its original size. When it falls of the host it's full of blood and able to lay its own eggs.

Ticks aren't capable of drinking water so they require a climate with high humidity to stay hydrated. A climate with a humidity of 85 percent or higher is ideal. At these humidity levels a tick can comfortably absorb moisture from the air to stay hydrated. A tick cannot survive in humidity below 80 percent and will soon die of dehydration if the humidity doesn't rise. Furthermore, ticks require a warm temperature in order to quest. Temperatures below 44 degrees Fahrenheit make it difficult for the tick to move around and find a host. Warm temperatures help a tick get around more easily, which increases its odds for finding a suitable host.

Ticks survive best in humid environments covered in low-lying vegetation. Vegetation provides sufficient coverage from the sun, which helps ticks retain moisture better. In habitats with sufficient shelter ticks are able to quest for a host for months on end, greatly increasing the odds of success. Exposed habitats greatly reduce the amount of time a tick can quest. Prolonged exposure to the sun will dehydrate a tick. More importantly, the ideal environment is abundant in potential hosts -- anything from mice, deer, sheep, dogs, birds or people.

A 2008 study entitled "What Makes Ticks Tick? Climate Change, Ticks, and Tick-Borne Diseases," prepared for the National Reference Laboratory for Tick-borne Diseases, examined the effects of climate change on tick populations worldwide. Scientists discovered that climate change is greatly influencing the spread and population growth of ticks all over the world. Warmer temperatures, higher global rain fall and increased humidity creates ideal environments for ticks, which makes it easy from them to explore new territory. Most shocking is the study's revelation that from 1973 to 2003 incidents of tick borne disease, such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), Lyme Borreliosis (LB), and other tick- borne diseases (TBDs), has increased by a whopping 400 percent. Furthermore the study proclaims that from 2005 to 2006 TBDs increased another 30 percent.

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What Kind of a Climate Do Ticks Survive In?

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Ticks require three essential elements in any given environment to survive: warm temperatures, high humidity and a plethora of potential hosts. In light of climate change, rising global temperatures and increased rain fall is contributing to the acceleration of a tick's life cycle, which is causing a large flux in ...

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Epidemiological Triangle
Agent: Tick Tok Virus, which lives in a tick's gut and can spread by tick bites from animal to human and through respiratory from human to human.
Host: Ticks which are vectors for the disease. Humans and other animals can be hosts once infected.
Environment: The ticks live on animals to feed, but can also live in the woods and brushes.

In order to prevent the spread of the Tick Tok virus, we have to break the bonds between agent, host and environment. We have come up with three ways to to this.

1. Break the connection between the agent and the host. By preventing tick bites, you are prevent the primary mode of transmission for the Tick Tok virus. Use tick repellent cream or spray, wear long shirts and pants that will cover your whole body and wear lightly colored clothes.
2. Break the connection between host and environment. Ticks live on wild animals and in the woods, so limiting your exposure time in the woods can reduce the possibility of contracting the Tick Tok virus.
3. Breaking the connection between the agent and the environment. We know that the Tick Tok virus lives and thrives in the gut of the tick, so if we make it inhabitable for the virus to live in the tick's gut, then we can prevent it from spreading to humans and other animals.

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The symptoms present themselves as gastrointestinal symptoms and/or respiratory symptoms, such as:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Bloating
- Sore throat
- Coughing
- Sinus congestion
- Chest congestion

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Human behavior: Frequenting areas with brush and tall grasses increases the potential to come into contact with ticks. This in turn increases likelihood of contracting the virus through the bite of an infected tick.

Proximity to wildlife: Humans can contract the virus through interaction with wildlife that are carrying the virus. Being in close proximity to wildlife, especially in instances such as hunting, puts humans at greater risk.

Climate and weather: At the beginning of spring, ticks become active and hungrily await their next meal provider, whether it be a human or an animal. Ticks favor high humidity in order to stay hydrated while they wait for a host to pass by. Additionally, airborne transmission of the virus is increased during cool and moist weather.

Human susceptibility to infection: People with weakened immune systems, elderly people and very young people are at increased risk of developing infection and having serious consequences from the virus.

Criteria for eradication: Two important criteria for eradication are having an effective way to confer immunity to the virus, preferably by a vaccine, and eliminating any method of transmission by an intermediate host. As of now, there is no vaccine available, and wildlife such as deer are known to be able to acquire infection from the virus.

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- Silver Bay, MN
- Northeastern region of Minnesota
- Woods
- Mine sites

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- Respiratory: Inhalation of contaminated air droplets from those infected with the Tick Tok Virus.

- Contact with bodily fluids such as urine, feces, etc.

- Bites from ticks carrying the Tick Tok Virus is the primary mode of transmission.

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- Our causative agent is a virus which originated in a gut of a tick where it mutated utilizing the genetic makeup of the blood that it ingested. Its incredibly contagious because it is able to be transmitted from animal to human, human to human, and animal to animal.
- The environment that this tick lives in is tall brush and woods, it likes to have access to humans and animals which are all biotic factors. To survive extreme climates such as in northern Minnesota they burrow into dirt or whatever they can to stay away from the cold, these include abiotic factors. The virus can live inside of a tick's gut over winter, causing no ill effects to the tick.

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Pandemic in correlation with the Tick Tok Virus means that the virus that originated from a tick in Minnesota has moved through the state and ultimately spread to the rest of the country. A pandemic to us means some form of disease that is able to spread/move from its original location into other climates and areas of the world just through transmission.