Are ticks responsible for human Acute Febrile Illness in South Africa?

Hi Jenny, That is a fantastic question! The answer is that it depends on the tick. Some ticks are very very picky (see link below), whereas some will attach to any creature that passes by. Some of the strange ticks include: ticks that only attach to lizards, or primate noses, or migrating birds. In fact, there are only 2,000 species of ticks in the world, but only a small percentage cause disease in humans and animals. For this project, we will collect all ticks in the Mnisi area, but if AFI is caused by ticks it will more than likely be a tick that is feeding on many different types of hosts. Just think the most types of hosts a tick will feed on, the more diverse exposure to germs.

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/08/how-a-mysterious-tick-ended-up-in-a-scientists-nose/

Kruger is so big! The drive isn't too bad from what I'm told - about 7 to 8 hours. The closest big village to look up would be Hoedspruit - which is still a small drive away from the site.

Ask away! I have not been to the Mnisi community yet (or South Africa), but I'll be working with several fantastic South African professors, grad students, and vet students that have experience in the area. The great thing about this community is that there are many ongoing projects and there is community support for the research. You can find more information about Mnisi here (http://www.up.ac.za/mnisi-community-programme/article/261060/about-us). Thank you very much for your interest and support in this project!!