This week, we were more actively engaged in our projects, and learned quite a bit about ticks too. We’ve learned how to identify different tick species found in Kenya and back home in the US. We have also begun working in the tick laboratory! The tick laboratory here at ILRI is found in farm; we had to put on rubber boots and walk through two pools of water to disinfect our feet. This is done to keep potential diseases from the farm animals from spreading. It seemed a bit complex at first, but the more and more we went back and forth, the entire process became second nature. The lab itself is pretty big, with rooms for livestock, too.
On Monday, we met with our supervisor, Mr. Naftaly, who introduced us to the labs and our subject.
On Tuesday, we did some research on our own time, and were given an assignment: we were to research American ticks and their diseases, and write a two-page paper. I, specifically, needed to write about the veterinary importance of some of the American ticks. Even though the most of the ticks were different than Kenyan ticks, it was interesting to get an international perspective on them.
The same day, our supervisor took us down the street to another tick lab, which had a type of microscope our lab didn’t. There, he took pictures of different collected ticks for his paper.
Wednesday, we did more independent research and to work on our papers, while Thursday we went back to the separate laboratory.
Next week, we will be at a different location, called Kapiti Ranch, to collect ticks for sampling. We’ll be doing this by using the “dragging” method, which includes dragging a large and letting ticks latch on. We’ll also pull them directly off the animals. So, on Friday, we helped to pack up and prepare for our trip! I’m a bit nervous about this; ticks are interesting creatures to read about but getting close to them is different!
Saturday, for our Know Kenya trip, we went to the Giraffe Center and hand-fed giraffes! They’re so cute and huge!
I have no doubt that I’ll have quite a bit to blog about for Kapiti. I’m very excited!
