Climate change has caused major environmental upheavals including draught affected regions, tornadoes, forest fires and the migration of insects towards warmer temperature. A case in point is the constant migration of at least 12 species of ticks in the Quebec environment. Ticks are known to bite and infect animals and humans. In humans, they may cause Lyme disease because tick bites can transfer in the blood the causative bacterial pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi. Ticks from Quebec also contain other bacteria, viruses and parasite pathogens which are not all detected by current methods used at the LSPQ. The analysis of microbiome in tick guts will assist in the identification of pathogens they can transfer when biting humans. Recent development in technology is the capability to detect the total content of microbes in their gut microbiome. Deep genome sequencing will identify not only pathogens in ticks but also the types of disease they may cause. In addition, genomic information will assist in defining specific markers for each pathogen, in which their detections can be combined in a single assay. Identification of ticks carrying pathogens and new genomics-based diagnostic tools will allow better diagnostics and have a major impact on human health.
User: Karine Thivierge (LSPQ – INSPQ)