Tick-Borne Diseases

In this episode of “Answers From the Lab,” host Bobbi Pritt, M.D., chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, is joined by Elitza Theel, Ph.D., director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, to discuss tick-borne diseases and the latest testing options.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., explains how Mayo Clinic Laboratories' new assay identifies less-common tick-borne bacteria in whole blood. The assay is recommended when tick-borne bacterial infection is suspected but standard testing is unrevealing.

In this episode of “Answers From the Lab,” host Bobbi Pritt, M.D., chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, is joined by William Morice II, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, to talk about the tick season peak that parts of the United States are experiencing, and how to diagnose and prevent Lyme disease.

In this month's "Hot Topic," Elitza Theel, Ph.D., will be discussing laboratory utilization management, specifically for diagnostic testing for tick-borne diseases.

Blacklegged ticks (also known as deer ticks) are turning up more frequently in Minnesota, and so are the diseases they carry. Bobbi Pritt, a parasitologist in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, weighs in on the issue.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Asian longhorned tick has spread across nine states since it first appeared in the U.S. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, discusses the risks.

Now in its second year of a five-year initiative to better understand and detect arboviruses in Belize, the IMPACTS (Integrated Mayo Clinic Program for Arbovirus Community health education Training and Surveillance) project has expanded its focus to include tick-borne infections in addition to mosquito-borne diseases, like Zika and dengue. IMPACTS is a four-tiered project that is a joint effort with Mayo Clinic, the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, and the Belize Ministry of Health.

On a recent tick drag with Minnesota Department of Health researchers, Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, talked about testing for tick-borne diseases.

A Wisconsin woman has died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in what Wisconsin health officials have confirmed is the first documented death from the infection in the state. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, advises what you should know about Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ticks.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, advises how to remove a tick quickly and correctly.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, recently spoke with the Post-Bulletin about Lyme disease and West Nile virus and how to avoid them this summer.

The "Mpls-St Paul" magazine article highlights Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, and her research on ticks and parasites.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., spends her work hours identifying and diagnosing infectious diseases. In her free time, she celebrates their beauty by creating bug-related artwork and blogging about parasites.