Introduction to Our Projects
This week, we received and began our projects. I will be focusing on ticks and tick-borne diseases, which are an important aspect of OneHealth, or the belief that environmental, livestock, wildlife, and human health are interconnected. Tick-borne diseases have been epidemic and their effects have been devastating to many smallholder farmers. These disease can debilitate or kill livestock, which in turn can be detrimental to these farmers’ incomes; they also can spread serious diseases, such as the Crimean-Congo disease, to people. Therefore, my job will be to collect ticks, and analyze their DNA and the pathogens they carry to get an idea of what tick-borne diseases are found in certain areas.
As someone with a terrible fear of insects or anything “creepy-crawly”, I can’t say I’m not nervous! I shudder at the thought of the ticks I collect crawling onto me and biting me. However, I’ve learned that, as the parasites feed off animals and humans, and have their own environmental niche, ticks are fundamental to OneHealth, I’m also excited. Also, a bit of a dangerous challenge can be exciting, especially if I know the end results will be beneficial! We haven’t gotten into any official lab work yet; most of this week was filled with researching about ticks on our own time. I have to say, I’ve learned a lot of disturbing facts about the little arthropods. However, the most disturbing fact I’ve learned is that their eyes are not on that little appendage on top of their body — the one that looks like it should be their head, called the capitulum (which is actually its mouth); they’re on their backs, the idiosoma. They look like aliens! Many species don’t have eyes…oddly enough, that fact is a bit reassuring to me.
It is fascinating, however, how these disgusting little creatures’ systems are so intricate and complex. Their ways of getting a host sounds almost brilliant: they pick up changes in CO2 respiration and shadows from hosts before they hitch on, then search for an area that is often hard for the animal to reach, like underneath the tail, or in the ear. They then latch on, and secrete a substance like cement that sort of locks them in. Some will drop off, molt to a later stage in life, and find another host to feed on, while others will spend their entire lives on one particular host. They’re well-prepared to be a parasite; therefore, I can’t say I don’t respect them, even if I don’t particularly feel too warm towards them yet!
Researching took up the majority of the week; however, yesterday, on our Know Kenya trip, we visited Rift Valley. In there, we got to take a boat ride in Lake Naivasha, and got up-close to different bird species, and hippos. I cannot put into words how incredible it is to see up-close animals I’ve only seen in pictures and videos; not even in zoos! It’s almost like living a myth.
Next week, we’ll be getting more into the hands-on portion of our projects. I cannot wait!
