Plenary Presentation Title: Studies on the ecology of tick-borne diseases vectored by a generalist tick with a huge geographic range: why? Bio: Dr. Jean Tsao has more than 20 years of experience learning about the ecology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens with implications for improving public health. Together with many colleagues and motivated students, Dr. Tsao has had the privilege to investigate the ecology of Lyme borreliosis in endemic, non-endemic, and emerging areas at local, regional, and continental spatial scales. Funded by the CDC’s Midwest Center of Excellence, NIH, and other sources, current research in Dr. Tsao’s lab includes elucidating the ecological processes underlying the emergence and distribution of ticks and tick-borne pathogens; developing approaches to reduce disease risk by intervening in the enzootic cycle or by changing human behavior; and investigating how interactions between the microbiome and the tick may influence tick phenotypes and disease risk. Dr. Tsao has served as an associate editor for the international journal Ticks and Tickborne Diseases; served as a member of the 2018 Subcommittee for Disease Vectors, Surveillance, and Prevention for the US Department of Health and Human Service's Tickborne Disease Working Group; and was a co-author of the 2021 Infectious Disease Society of America's Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Lyme disease.

10:30-10:45: Damian Bourne: Examining morphometric and genetic diversity in Eastern, Ontario's Ixodid tick populations. 10:45-11:00: Neil Chilton: How genetically diverse are adventitious blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in Saskatchewan? 11:00-11:15: Grace Nichol: Environmental sampling for Dermacentor species in southern British Columbia, Canada. 11:15-11:30: Shaun Dergousoff: Distribution and descriptive models of Dermacentor spp. occurrence in western Canada, based on active sampling. 11:30-11:45: Grace Nichol: Current and potential future distribution of Dermacentor similis in western North America under differing climate change scenarios.

Quinn Stewart: Twenty years of tick and tick-borne disease surveillance of companion animals in British Columbia, Canada. Madelaine Gravelle: Illness Uncertainty and Psychosocial Well-being in Chronic Lyme Disease. Véronique Noël: Biobank of tick-bitten persons and prospective evaluation of post-exposure prophylaxis for Lyme disease in Quebec (BQTique): a study protocol. Jeremie Bouffard: This is not a tick: Which arthropods are misidentified as ticks by the public. Roman McKay: CaLSeN active tick surveillance results in 2024. Alan Barbour: Diversity of responses of a natural reservoir of Lyme disease to experimental infections with Borreliella burgdorferi. Courtney Loomer: Single nucleotide polymorphisms affecting pathogenicity in Anaplasma phagocytophilum infections. Salima Gasmi: Incidence of hospitalizations related to Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases using Discharge Abstract Database, Canada, 2009−2021. Annie-Claude Bourgeois: Ticks of public health importance other than Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus in Canada, 2000-2021: diversity, abundance, spatiotemporal distribution, and pathogen positivity.

Networking opportunity for students/trainees with scientists

Co-Moderators: Catherine Bouchard & Kirsten Noltie. Panelists: Dr. Sean Li, Research Scientist, Health Canada; Claire Gooding, Graduate Student, Simon Fraser University; Dr. Manisha Kulkarni, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa; Dr. Cécile Aenishaenslin, Professor, University of Montréal; Dr. Jean-Phillippe Rocheleau, Adjunct Professor, University of Montréal. Panel Description: This panel discussion brings together a diversity of perspectives on how health research is done and how health policy is developed. Panelists are invited to share their insights and ideas about how new knowledge and evidence, generated from meaningfully engaged stakeholders, including patients with lived experience, can be better integrated into healthcare policy, practices, and systems to benefit patients and improve health outcomes, particularly in tick-borne disease.

Kirsten Noltie: Trends in Active Blacklegged Tick Surveillance: Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington 2023-2024. Adrian Diaz-Sanchez: Spatial and temporal genetic diversity in recently established populations at the distributional limits of Dermacentor variabilis in Saskatchewan. Neil Chilton: Frontiers of change at the northern edge: Transovarial transmission of microbiota in Dermacentor variabilis and progression during embryogenesis. Natasha Bowser: Ticks impact Canadians in a multitude of ways beyond infection with a tick-borne disease: Results from a national survey in 2023. Neil Chilton & Adrian Diaz-Sanchez: Genetic diversity of Dermacentor nitens (Acari: Ixodidae) collected on horses from Western Cuba. Hesham Adam: The effect of Borrelia burgdorferi infection on the skin microbiome of lab mice. Danny Szaroz: Peliminary Findings: A case-control study in two Canadian regions on the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) related to Lyme disease. Ariane Dumas: Leveraging community science to monitor blacklegged tick population emergence: An analysis of eTick.ca data and the socio-ecological determinants of submission rates in Quebec. Stephanie Cooper: First Detection of Babesia microti and Anaplasma phagocytophilum pathogens as well as Babesia odocoilei and a unique Borrelia strain in British Columbia Ticks.

15:30-15:45: Katarina Ost: A systematic review of the effectiveness and utility of Lyme disease prevention measures including tick and wildlife host control strategies to reduce the risk of Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) transmission. 15:45-16:00: Annabelle Pfeifle: Novel recombinant vaccinia virus vaccine affords complete protection against homologous Borrelia burgdorferi infection in mice. 16:00-16:15: Katarina Ost: Reducing tick density along recreational trails in Ottawa, Canada: preliminary results from an ecotone modification study using treated and untreated woodchips.

16:15-16:30: Raphaëlle Audet-Legault: The role of wild small mammal hosts in the epidemiology of anaplasmosis in southeastern Canada. 16:30-16:45: Maarten Voordouw: Strains of Borrelia burgdorferi differ in pathology and the induced antibody response in lab mice. 16:45-17:00: Catherine Bouchard: The distribution of Babesia odocoilei in Ixodes species ticks in Canada: implications for One Health surveillance.