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Tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease are a significant health concern for many Rhode Islanders, particularly workers in outdoor occupations who have frequent exposure to tick-infested habitats.  And now, just when most people think that tick season should be over for the year, adult blacklegged ticks begin their annual emergence and become exceptionally abundant across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and upper Mid-West regions according to experts at TickEncounter.org.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed and Dr. Tom Mather, University of Rhode Island (URI) Professor of Public Health Entomology, announced a new federal grant award worth $2,039,000 over four years to study Lyme disease prevention and exposure among outdoor workers.

The federal funding is made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which works to prevent workplace illnesses and injuries.  The grant will provide approximately $240,000 in direct funding annually for URI over the next four years to field test the effectiveness of long lasting permethrin-impregnated (LLPI) clothing in outdoor workers.  Permethrin is an active ingredient that is lethal for ticks but is recommended for certain human uses, and in the amounts found in clothing, should not harm the environment if used appropriately.  Clothes treated with permethrin are commercially available at many outdoor retailers and when used regularly, could play a critical role in reducing tick bites and disease in people that spend a significant about of time in tick habitat.  URI scientists are collaborating with a team of researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) on the study, which will use clothing made by a North Carolina company.